Maksym I. Hnatiuk (Mars)

Junior Sergeant Maksym Hnatiuk (call sign Mars) was killed in action on August 6, 2022, while performing a combat mission near the village of Kodema in Donetsk region. The fighter was 32 years old. Maksym was born in the city of Radivyliv, Rivne region. He graduated from Radivyliv Professional Lyceum. Then he stuwas killed in action at Kremenets State Humanitarian-Pedagogical Academy named after Taras Shevchenko. He worked abroad and was fond of fishing. When the full-scale war began, the man was working in Poland, but immediately decided to return home to defend his native land. After returning, Maksym went to the military commissariat and later joined the ranks of defenders. He served in the 214th separate special battalion "OPFOR" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He took the position of platoon commander and went to war. A loving son, the best brother, a devoted friend, honest, fair, independent, faithful, the best in the world. A patriot of his state! Ukraine was everything to him. He gave his life for the peace and tranquility of our state. During one of the phone conversations, when he was still abroad, Maksym said: "How can I be here when my brothers are fighting there?" Leaving his job, he went to defend the independence of our state. He always went ahead," said Anastasia, the godmother of the deceased. "You became an angel. You are a Hero of Ukraine. Eternal memory. We love, remember, and mourn," wrote his sister Halyna Koropetska. "We remember him as a sincere patriot of Ukraine and a decisive warrior, who enjoyed the respect of the townspeople and comrades, was a caring son and brother, a loving husband," noted the Radivyliv City Council. Maksym was buried in his hometown. At home, his mother, brother, wife, relatives, and friends were waiting for him. Posthumously, the defender was awarded the Order "For Courage" of the III degree.