Sitting around a campfire in an idyllic forest clearing, it was the perfect honeymoon celebration with family and friends.
But the dream outing was transformed into a bloodbath by a buried First World War bomb.
Shrapnel tore through Lidiia Makarchuk’s body and her brother was killed.
The 31-year-old had travelled to the Ukrainian beauty spot for a belated honeymoon after marrying Norbert Varga, 43, near their home in Bracknell, Berkshire.
It is thought the explosion was triggered by the fire the party of 12 had lit at the end of a walk last month in the Carpathian Mountains near the border with Hungary.
The bomb went off while they were telling stories and drinking tea.
Lidiia Makarchuk, 31, sustained shrapnel injuries to her left eye and across her face after an unexploded bomb went off in a Ukrainian forest.
Her hands were also lacerated, leaving the bone visible, while her legs were shredded and some of the muscle was missing
Miss Makarchuk, a Ukraine-born accountant, recalled telling her friends how her husband had won her heart after complimenting her shoes in church back in 2019.
She said: “The fire made a special atmosphere and we had a lot to say. It had been such a long time since we’d seen each other.”
Mr Varga, a radio operator, and keen photographer went to his tent at around 9:00 pm to fetch his camera when he was rocked by an earth-shattering blast.
Miss Makarchuk had travelled to the Ukrainian beauty spot for a belated honeymoon after marrying Norbert Varga, 43, near their home in Bracknell, Berkshire
He said: “While I was packing my equipment the sound of an explosion and screams broke the silence. I ran to the bonfire as fast as I could, screaming Lidiia’s name.”
His wife recalled the moment the blast ripped through the campsite, saying: “In one second I felt like someone had taken a rock and thrown it in my face, in my nose especially.
“Then I had a whistling in my ears followed by a silence where I could hear only myself. I turned away and covered my face with my hands and started praying for myself. Then I realised it wasn’t just me. Everyone was moaning, everyone was in pain.”
Mr Varga desperately tried to find his wife, who had sustained shrapnel injuries to her left eye and across her face.
Her hands were also lacerated, leaving the bone visible, while her legs were shredded and a part of the muscle was missing.
