A young couple in Ukraine delighted in first love. Then the war came for them

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — They met in a park on a winter’s day in Kyiv. The teenage girl was a manicurist. The boy delivered food. Like their battered country, they had larger dreams. A doctor, an engineer.

But first, marriage. Danylo Khudia, 17, told Alyona Zavadska’s mother he planned to propose to her 16-year-old daughter this summer as a surprise on her birthday. They wanted to tie the knot when she turned 18.

The intensity of their connection baffled their parents, but they came around.

“We knew that they are just kids, but we could see they could handle themselves,” said Zavadska’s mother, Oksana.

As Ukraine's war with Russia roiled around them, Khudia told Zavadska he felt calm and peaceful around her. He called her “my baby girl.” She called him “my boy."

A close friend of Khudia’s, Danylo Bondarchuck, recalled how his eyes shone the first time he mentioned Alyona. “I have the most beautiful girlfriend,” he said.

The couple were inseparable. Zavadska cheered Khudia in his basketball games and encouraged him as he pursued his driver’s license. She helped him study for exams and consoled him when he mentioned being cheated in a money-making scam.

When Zavadska expressed interest in tattoo art, Khudia agreed to be her guinea pig. She tattooed him with an alien, a scorpion, a design of the moon.

Zavadska opened up, too. She told Khudia she had an eating disorder. He helped her overcome it.

“She didn’t believe she was beautiful,” her mother said. “He made her believe she is.”

In recent weeks, as the U.S. pressed for peace talks, the couple found an apartment a few blocks from Zavadska’s parents. They opened a bank account and prepared to build a life.

But they could never hide from war.

Six months ago, Zavadska had dreamed Khudia’s house would be destroyed in a missile strike. It was eerie, but she thought no more of it.

On Thursday night, Zavadska had a terrible feeling but couldn’t explain why. She hugged Khudia tight for 10 minutes and told him to update her every hour until he went to sleep.

Air sirens blared at 1 a.m., and she texted him to ask if everything was OK. There was no reply. She waited out the alert in a nearby basement.

In the morning, Khudia’s best friend called. Khudia’s house had been hit by a Russian missile. His remains had been found. He had died instantly. His parents were also killed. His sister was pulled from the rubble alive.

There were no obvious military targets in the neighborhood. A military registration and enlistment office was nearby but typically empty at night. Top-secret weapons production facilities and other targets are known to be in various parts of Kyiv, and Russian missiles are rarely precise.

The attack killed 13 people and brought a rare reproach from U.S. President Donald Trump, who urged Russian President Vladimir Putin “to stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal.”

On Monday, Zavadska said goodbye.

She knelt before Khudia’s coffin, shaking with grief, until mourners urged her away. Her mother supported her slender frame. Loved ones piled flowers on the closed casket until they overflowed.

“He was the most precious thing I have ever had," Zavadska said.

The couple's families met for the first time at the funeral. Khudia’s grandmother saw the girl, her fingers pressed against the boy’s portrait, and knew.

“You are Alyona? Aren’t you?” she called out.

Khudia has appeared in Zavadska’s dreams since the day after he was killed, weeping by her feet. Sleep eludes her, her mother said: “She is terrified of it.”

In a park gazebo where the couple liked to sit together, Zavadska looked at photos. In one, the couple is kissing, Zavadska’s long, glossy hair obscuring Khudia’s face.

She now speaks in a whisper barely audible above the rustling of leaves. She says part of her is gone. Her mother, feeling powerless, worries her daughter won’t survive her grief.

“His hugs were so warm,” Zavadska said.

“We were waiting for the summer so much. We had so many plans.”

Associated Press journalists Alex Babenko and Vasilisa Stepanenko contributed to this report.

FILE - Flowers and toys are placed at the site of a destroyed house after a Russian strike on a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

Rescue workers evacuate injured Yana Khudia, 14, from under the rubble of a house destroyed by a Russian airstrike in a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A relative of the Khudia family checks the house, recently destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

FILE - Friends of Danylo Khudia, 17, who was killed on Thursday by a Russian strike, gather near the rubble of a house in a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

Alyona Zavadska, 16, checks a photo of herself with boyfriend Danylo Khudia, 17, killed in a Russian strike along with his parents, Viktoria and Oleh Khudia on April 24, during a farewell ceremony at the crematorium in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

FILE - Friends and relatives attend the funeral service of teenager Danylo Khudia, and his parents Viktoria and Oleh Khudia, killed in a Russian strike on a residential neighbourhood on April 24, during a farewell ceremony at the crematorium in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

FILE - A photo of Danylo Khudia, 17, killed in a Russian strike along with his parents, Viktoria and Oleh Khudia on April 24, on a table during a farewell ceremony at the crematorium in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

Ukrainian servicemen check a destroyed house following a Russian strike at a residential neighbourhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a house destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

FILE - Friends of Danylo Khudia, 17, who was killed on Thursday by a Russian strike, gather near the rubble of a house in a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

Alyona Zavadska, 16, sits in a gazebo where she had her first date with boyfriend Danylo Khudia, 17, who was killed in a Russian strike on April 24, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

FILE - Relatives cry near the coffins of teenager Danylo Khudia, 17, and his parents Viktoria and Oleh Khudia, killed in a Russian strike on residential neighbourhood on April 24, during a farewell ceremony at the crematorium in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

FILE - Alyona Zavadska, 16, cries near the coffin of her boyfriend Danylo Khudia, 17, killed in a Russian strike along with his parents, Viktoria and Oleh Khudia on April 24, during a farewell ceremony at the crematorium in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)