Matilda’s parents wed in quiet Sydney ceremony

The parents of the youngest person killed in the Bondi Beach terror attack have married in a small, private ceremony in Sydney, carving out a moment of joy after months of profound grief.

Valentyna Poltavchenko and Michael Britvan lost their 10-year-old daughter Matilda in the 14 December attack. The couple wed at Admiralty House in Kirribilli on 7 March 2026, four months after the tragedy, with the Governor-General among those present at the intimate gathering.

Announcing the marriage on Instagram, Britvan struck a warmly humorous tone. He acknowledged that the plan had worked well for most of the ceremony before his sister discovered the Facebook livestream button, joking that anyone who had accidentally tuned in had become part of the extended guest list and that every family apparently comes with its own built-in media department.

He also quipped that many people had probably assumed the couple had already been married for about 10 years, making the ceremony “really just us finally making it official”. In keeping with the relaxed spirit of the day, Britvan revealed he had turned up to the wedding in jeans and yellow sneakers adorned with a bee, a nod to Matilda. “Apparently that’s what happens when you combine a secret wedding with questionable fashion decisions,” he wrote.

Both Poltavchenko and Britvan wore blue and yellow in honour of the Ukrainian flag, reflecting their shared heritage. The couple had each emigrated separately from Ukraine and met in Sydney through social media. Matilda’s younger sister, Summer, attended the wedding dressed in blue.

Matilda was one of 15 people killed and 40 others injured when two gunmen opened fire on families gathered at the Chanukah by the Sea celebration at Bondi Beach on 14 December 2025. Authorities declared the attack an act of antisemitic terrorism.

Matilda was shot while she and her six-year-old sister were at a petting zoo at the event. Her father crawled through the chaos to reach her, urging her to hold on, but she died in hospital. Her parents and sister never got the chance to say goodbye.

In tributes following her death, Matilda was remembered as a softie who loved animals, practised judo, and was rarely apart from her little sister. She had recently mastered cartwheels and the splits.

Her father described her as “a regular, awesome Aussie girl”. The couple had chosen the name Matilda because it sounded unmistakably Australian, just as they had named their younger daughter Summer after the great Australian summer. At school, the two girls were so inseparable that classmates often mistook them for twins, despite a three-year age gap.

The wedding included quiet tributes to Matilda throughout. The couple’s rings were each engraved with a small bee, a reference to Matilda’s middle name. After her death, the bee became a widespread symbol of remembrance, with people sharing images online under the hashtag #MatildaBee and a large toy bee placed on her coffin at her funeral.

Britvan said the couple are planning a proper celebration when the time feels right, with professional photographs from the day still to come.

For many Australians who followed the aftermath of the Bondi attack, the understated wedding represented a moment of quiet resilience, a family stepping forward while keeping their daughter’s memory close.