A young Ukrainian couple, who were looking to break their destructive on-again off-again relationship cycle, made a bizarre decision on Valentine's Day to handcuff themselves together. Now, 123 days later, the cuffs have come off. Is there hope for them now that they are unshackled?
Ukrainian lovers Alexandr Kudlay and Viktoria Pustovitova shouted "hooray" and "I am finally free" as their handcuffs were severed with giant bolt cutters recently, putting an end to their bizarre experiment.
During the four months of being cuffed together the couple did everything together, including going to the bathroom and even accompanying each other to work.
The stress of being attached quickly took its toll on the couple with arguments that lasted hours. Kudlay said the experiment revealed to him that he and Pustovitova were not "like-minded people".
"We are not on the same wavelength," he insisted. "We are totally different."
"We stayed together all day, I did not receive any attention from Alexandr because we were constantly together," Pustovitova told Reuters at the conclusion of the experience. "He did not tell me, 'I miss you', while I would like to hear that."
Ultimately, therefore, the couple instantly parted ways when the cuffs came off, with the only ray of sunshine being that their effort broke the world record for the most time a couple has ever spent chained together.
"Vika wants to get back to the rhythm of her earlier life, she misses what she used to love to do," shared Kudlay of his ex after the handcuffs were removed.
The couple now live apart, in different regions in the Ukraine, and Pustovitova hopes that their failed experiment was not in vain and will help save other couples from the same pain.
"I think it will be a good lesson for us, for other Ukrainian couples and couples abroad not to repeat what we have done."