I was working late on night and finished what I was doing. Those days still a new and strange experience to me, I started to "surf" the internet.

Ever so often annoying pop-ups would appear about Russian brides and marriage agencies. A lucky wrong click resulted in me ended up at one of these sites.

As a matter of interest I scrolled through it and noticed this picture of an Ukrainian lady.

It was possible to contact the women on the site anonymously (must register and have a nickname), via an email option.

We exchanged a few short mails during the following weeks, after which I lost contact with her - just as I started to feel something special towards this woman in a far away country.

A few months later I visited a few Russian marriage agency sites out of curiosity. I started corresponding with a few women but soon realised to be careful of scams. 

One site seemed without any catches and to the point. Brief mails were exchanged with a few women, after which I ended up corresponding to one special lady in particular.

We started to know each other better and exchange pictures. One day I received a picture – the same one of the lady I was in touch with first time! It dawned on me this was the same woman - a miracle!

Now things started to get serious. I fell in love with this woman...

A year later I was in Odessa (Ukraine) to meet her - the mysterious woman in the first picture I laid my eyes on!

 Had to shave!

Almost freezed to death!

 Recovered - The next step ...

And we dropped anchor in Gordon's Bay - for us the most beautiful town in South Africa.

The moral of the story?

"Russian Brides" is not a myth. However, as we all know, there always will be elements in the human race that see this and feelings of others as an opportunity – and scams see the light.

Due to the personal experience I had with “OdessaLove”, the marriage agency of Victoriya Shvetsova, I feel quite comfortable to refer her site to men wanting an honest relationship with a Ukrainian lady.

Ukraine women marriage agency in Odessa