KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A pregnant woman in a black dress stood at the head of her 21-year-old husband’s casket Tuesday in Kyiv, mourning the man she met when they were both soldiers fighting Russia's full-scale invasion of their country.
Yeva Smyrnova and Danyil Smyrnov both joined the army in 2023, at 18, and married two years later, in July 2025. Young as they were, decided they needed to hurry and start a family.
“We dreamed of this child, but because
we were both always at war, it was very difficult,” said Smyrnova, who serves as a drone pilot under the call sign “Yunha.”
Danyil Smyrnov was killed in action on Aug. 28, 2026, on the Sumy front in northeastern Ukraine, one of a group of four soldiers killed in action serving with military intelligence. He held the rank of junior sergeant, served as a reconnaissance operator, and helped train recruits.
“This month our son is due to be born — the son Dania dreamed about so much. He dreamed of being the best father," Smyrnova told The Associated Press.
But instead of choosing a name for her firstborn child, she and hundreds of others came to say goodbye to her husband at St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery.
In the days after Smyrnov's death, his wife wrote online that their son would be “his continuation.”
The monastery, where Ukraine typically holds funeral services for soldiers killed in the war, was packed. Mourners of all ages came to pay their respects, including fellow soldiers holding bouquets of roses.
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Smyrnov was 16 and finishing high school. He went on to study psychology at a university in Lithuania but did not stay long — fighting had intensified around Bakhmut, where his uncle was serving at the time, and the young man left his studies. As soon as he turned 18, he signed a military contract.
“He … called me that evening, very happy, and said, ‘Sorry, Dad, I signed the contract. I forged your signature. Forgive me,’” recalled his father, Oleksandr Smyrnov, his voice shaking. He struggled to speak about his son, but embraced his daughter-in-law, saying he also found some comfort in the grandson soon to arrive.
Danyil Smyrnov went on to command an assault group in the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade. He was wounded by shrapnel in both legs and underwent rehabilitation, then returned to service, later transferring to Ukrainian military intelligence. Many knew him by his call sign, “Surfer” — from the age of 6, he had flown to visit his mother in Bali every summer, where he became a skilled surfer.
“Despite all the horrors of war, Dania managed to find his treasure — his girlfriend, and later his wife, Yeva,” read a passage from the eulogy at the monastery, as explosions echoed through the city. “Their relationship changed them both. They were both fighting for life, for a shared future.”
Now his wife is left alone, widowed at 21.
“He wanted all of us to be able to live in peace,” she said. “And in the end, he paid for that with his life.”
Smyrnov often wrote about the war on his Instagram, an account that holds mostly photos from his military life — himself in uniform, at different positions — with his most recent photos showing him with his wife, who is also pictured in military fatigues.
In an earlier post, written around his 20th birthday, he wrote: “In my 20 years, I’ve understood one thing: people don’t value life until they feel its edge. … War is not romance. It’s an experience that strips you down to what’s real,” the message said. “The choice is simple: who will you be — a victim, or someone who takes responsibility?”
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Alex Babenko contributed to this report.
