While defending the sovereignty and independence of our Homeland, volunteer, soldier, athlete, and leader of the fan movement of Kyiv’s Dynamo, Maxym Yalovtsov, was killed on the front line.
The Hero was born on 5 August 1990. He spent his childhood in the city of Torez in the Donetsk region, and in 2002 his family moved to Kyiv.
Sport was always an integral part of his life. As a child, he developed a passion for football and later took up rugby. He played for the first team of RC Aviator in the top division of the Ukrainian Rugby Championship.
He also achieved considerable success in martial arts. Maxym Yalovtsov earned the title of Master of Sports of Ukraine in grappling, free fight, and mixed martial arts (MMA). He was a multiple medalist at World and European Championships in pankration and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Maxym was the founder of the Civil Safety organization, whose flagship project became the Civil Safety Academy. The academy was established to improve public awareness of firearms and provide essential weapons-handling skills. Before the full-scale war, he taught grappling there.
Following the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Maxym and his associates organized groups of volunteers, many of whom were Dynamo supporters. From the very first days of the war, they took part in the defense of the capital.
On 20 March 2022, Russian forces launched an airstrike on the Retroville shopping center in Kyiv, where Maxym and most of his comrades were based. Although the building suffered severe destruction, he was the first to rush in, pulling his friends from beneath the rubble and providing first aid to the wounded.
Maxym was killed in the autumn of that same year. He died behind enemy lines after triggering a landmine while carrying out a combat mission that very few were willing to undertake.
He was laid to rest on 18 October 2022 at the Alley of Glory of Lisove Cemetery in Kyiv.
He was posthumously awarded the Order for Courage, Third Class, as well as the distinction of the Mayor of Kyiv — the badge “For Assistance in the Defense of Kyiv.” In September 2023, a mural was created in his honor on Myloslavska Street in Kyiv’s Troieshchyna district, depicting Maxym Yalovtsov in military gear with a weapon in his hands.
He is survived by his mother, younger brother, and common-law wife.
A deep bow of gratitude and eternal remembrance to the Herо.