It’s hard to beat this couple’s extraordinary approach to celebrating Valentine’s Day.
On Feb. 14, Alexandr Kudlay, 33, and Victoria Pustovitova, 28, chained themselves to each other, planning to spend at least the next three months inseparably.
The two decided to challenge themselves to test their feelings and possibly set a world record.
“We want to stay chained as long as we can, we would like a year,” Pustovitova told the Kyiv Post.
The couple’s unusual experiment drew the attention of the media and the public. Their Instagram account, launched right before the first day of the challenge, now has nearly 7,000 followers.
Kudlay and Pustovitova have known each other for six years. Having dated on and off for years, the two reconnected about two months ago. They now live together in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city with 1.4 million residents, located 500 kilometers east of Kyiv.
The idea came out of the couple’s emotional arguments. Pustovitova says she is very short-tempered, so when they quarrel, she often starts packing her things and wants to leave.
Kudlay suggested a solution. If the ability to physically leave is removed, the couple will have to face the issues in their relationship rather than running away from them.
“That’s how Sasha (Kudlay) tamed me,” Pustovitova said.
To get chained, the couple traveled to Kyiv’s Unity sculpture — a steel structure that portrays a woman and a man whose bodies cross each other. A blacksmith soldered two chain bracelets on their wrists, binding Pustovitova’s left and Kudlay’s right hands.
The process was supervised by the representatives of the Book of Records of Ukraine, which will document the couple’s record if they manage to achieve it.
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The two got ready for the challenge in advance by preparing clothes that are suitable to put on with one hand. They also planned for driving a car and performing other daily activities while chained.
The couple displays its experiment on its Instagram account. One of the pictures shows Pustovitova sitting on the floor while Kudlay curls her hair with a curling wand.
The experiment hasn’t interfered with Kudlay’s job — he works remotely as an intermediary between car sellers and buyers. Pustovitova, who normally provides eyelash extensions, stopped working for now but is thinking about a way to make it work with her boyfriend by her side.
No matter how challenging their lives have become, the couple says they’re enjoying the experiment. And their relationship has only improved since its beginning.
Pustovitova says they haven’t had any fights over the past two weeks and most of the things they do are in sync, even waking up at the same time.
“We are a single whole,” Pustovitova said.
