Maksym V. Baranov

In 2009, Maxim graduated from a general education school in the village of Sivaske and later obtained a profession as a builder at a vocational school. He was drafted for compulsory military service, which he completed in the 9th separate brigade of the Crimean territorial command of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (Simferopol). He had adored animals since childhood, so he eagerly volunteered to undergo training at the Internal Troops training center (Zolochiv, Lviv region), where he specialized as a dog handler. He later continued his service under contract, transferring to the Kherson separate battalion of the Southern Territorial Command of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (since April 2014 — the Southern Operational Territorial Association of the National Guard of Ukraine), where he held the position of instructor of the canine group. From July 28, 2014, he participated in the anti-terrorist operation in Eastern Ukraine. For six months, while searches and the procedure for judicial molecular-genetic examination were ongoing, Maxim's relatives received multiple phone calls from scoundrels who claimed that Maxim was alive and offered to "ransom" him from captivity for money. On February 27, 2015, he was buried with military honors in the town of Sivaske.