A merciless strike by a Russian guided aerial bomb on Zaporizhzhia on December 6, 2024, claimed the life of the talented hockey player Maksym Brahin. He was only 27 years old.
For more than twenty years, Maksym devoted himself to hockey — training in his native Zaporizhzhia before continuing in Kharkiv. Later, he went on to play for the Zaporizhzhia amateur team “Avrora.” At the same time, he combined his appearances for the club with coaching, mentoring young players at the local youth sports school.
His teammates remember him as a dependable friend and a seasoned, resilient, and swift player. On that tragic day, the captain of “Avrora,” Bohdan Titov, was also killed alongside Maksym. Their teammate Volodymyr Proshchan recalls that the fallen players were tireless and determined athletes:
“The guys were truly remarkable. On the ice, they played hard and fought until the very last second. And in life, they were exactly the same—always ready to help. Death takes the very best. We will always remember who they were.”
Shortly after the tragedy, a training session was held at the ice arena in Zaporizhzhia in memory of the fallen athletes. Friends, coaches, and young trainees stepped onto the ice to honor those who lived for the game and for their team.
The war is taking the lives of young and gifted Ukrainians. Eternal memory.