Set to wed, separated by war, couple fights to reunite
By Juliette Goodrich
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SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — Colton Harris’ fiancée lives in southern Ukraine. The couple’s four-year, long-distance romance survived a pandemic but now they face an even bigger obstacle: war.
“It is kind of stressful and scary,” Harris told KPIX two weeks ago. His fiancée Margarita was living with her mother in the Ukrainian town of Zaporozhye at the time.
Days before, he was set to visit Margarita but the Ukraine air space was closed and the invasion happened.
That didn’t stop his efforts to help his fiancée leave Ukraine, working from thousands of miles away.
Now, two weeks later, when the two reconnected by Zoom, Margarita was in Germany after a long journey out of Ukraine.
“I am with host family and everywhere I stay is mostly Colton’s friends or relatives,” Margarita said.
They hope to be reunited next week when Harris flies to Germany.
“It is not going to be quite the wonderful vacation we imagined. It has a dark, gloomy cloud around it and situations have changed,” Harris said.
Margarita’s parents are still in Ukraine. She says her stepfather has no choice. He has to stay.
“My parents stayed because my stepfather is still at the age of below 60 and he is not allowed to leave the country and my mom doesn’t want to leave him,” Margarita said.
The couple say they are taking it one day at a time. They are thankful to be reunited next week if all goes as planned this time.
“I would like to say thank-you to all of the people who have helped and were able to assist with getting her to a safe place. I am forever grateful,” Harris said.
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