A couple who chained themselves together on Valentine’s Day to test their love have finally untied themselves after 123 days – and they broke up immediately after getting free. Viktoria Pustovitova, 29, and Alexander Kudlay, 33, from Kharkiv in Ukraine, had chained themselves for three months to test the strength of their relationship, however, it turns out that this time spent together ended up in parting their ways.
Throughout the experiment, which they documented to a growing social media following, they did everything together, from grocery shopping to cigarette breaks. They even took turns to use the bathroom and shower.
Pustovitova, who initially resisted the handcuff idea, shed tears as she discussed the latest break-up. “I think it will be a good lesson for us, for other Ukrainian couples and couples abroad not to repeat what we have done,”Pustovitova said personal space is what she missed most, although she also felt her boyfriend did not pay her enough attention while they were chained together.
The chain was finally severed by giant cutters in Kyiv at the Unity monument where they were locked together. As soon as Viktoria was cut free, she shouted ‘Hooray’.“I want to live my own independent life, and grow as an independent person. I am finally free,” she was quoted as saying by Mirror.
Meanwhile, Alexander thanked their supporters, who followed their unusual journey on Instagram. “Thank you all for supporting us. Look, we are now at a distance from each other. We were happy, and we are now happy to have had this experience in our lives.”
“Difficulties are snowballing. As soon as we find one plus in a situation, immediately there are two minuses. Vika wants to get back to the rhythm of her earlier life, she misses what she used to love to do. She doesn’t respond well to my suggestions to keep doing what she likes to do alongside me,” he said.“We are trying really hard not to escalate conflicts. I struggle with hearing noise when I cook, or on the phone. And I don’t like to spend so much time by the mirror every morning,” he added.
After a four-hour argument, Alexander posted, “Our resources are running dry. We need to relax in a big crowd, to let go of each other. We need to reboot. When we go shopping, we start fresh and happy, and finish up like squeezed lemons.
Alexander had come up with the idea of handcuffing together after Viktoria said she wanted to break up with him. The couple had no personal space for the 123 days they were chained. They did everything – from bathroom breaks to shopping – together.
They had plans to sell their chain for $3 million (Rs 21.94 crore) at an international auction to donate a part to charity and keep some for their personal use.
During their time chained up, using the public toilets had been a problem as Viktoria took Alexander to the ladies washroom, making other people raise their eyebrows.
Alexander had been able to continue working as a car salesman with his girlfriend by his side. However, Viktoria had to give up her work as an artificial eyelash creator because her clients weren’t comfortable being so close to her partner.
