Yurii Yu. Maksymchuk (Hutsul)

Junior Sergeant Yurii Maksymchuk (call sign Hutsul) was killed on June 5, 2023 in the area of the village of Levadne, Zaporizhzhia region. While carrying out a combat mission, he received a fatal injury during enemy artillery shelling. In October, the defender would have turned 30 years old. Yuriy was from the village of Bystrytsya, Ivano-Frankivsk region. He graduated from school there. A few months before the full-scale war, he worked as a timber transporter in Russia. However, after the full-scale invasion, the man immediately decided to return to his homeland, crossing 5 countries. In early March, Yuriy volunteered at the Nadvirna military enlistment office and was waiting for a call. Two weeks later, he persistently applied to them again with a request to let him defend Ukraine. On May 7, 2022, he left for training in the Lviv region. After a few months, he was transferred to the Mykolaiv region, where he became a fighter of the 36th separate marine brigade named after Rear Admiral Mykhailo Bilynsky. Together with the unit, he went to the Donetsk region. On October 30, 2022, in Avdiivka, Yuriy received shrapnel wounds to the shoulder. After rehabilitation, he returned to service with a shrapnel that could not be removed. He was promoted to the rank of junior sergeant and became the commander of a reconnaissance group and the commander of a combat vehicle. "Yurchyk was very cheerful and at the same time serious, courageous and fair, not afraid of hard work. Even as a little boy, he loved to play war with his brother. He loved weapons and wanted to become a military man. When he turned 18, he wanted to serve in the army, but he was refused twice," said the sister of the fallen Khrystyna. The marine was buried in his native village. Yuriy is survived by his parents and sisters.