Among the hundreds of thousands of victims of the war between Ukraine and Russia has been former Ukrainian international Roman Maksymyuk. The midfielder, who played for Zenit St. Petersburg, Dynamo Kiev and Dnipro, was a teammate of Shevchenko on the Ukrainian national team from 1998 to 2002, making five appearances. He lost his life at the age of 50 on the Pokrovsk front in the Donetsk region during a combat operation while trying to break out of the encirclement of Russian forces.
The approximate date of his death is around January 30, 2025. Maksymyuk was considered missing in action for about 20 months. Identification was only possible now, in October 2026, through DNA analysis. Comparison with a sample provided by his daughter, Daria, resulted positive. His wife, Vira, made the official news on October 16, after receiving the results of the examination.
Wife announces death of former national football player
“The miracle did not happen… A year of hope, waiting, prayers and faith… A year during which we lived between heaven and earth, clinging to the slightest hope and believing that Roman would return home,” Maksymyuk’s wife wrote on social networks. “Thank you to everyone who prayed, supported us, helped in the search and did not let hope fade. Thank you to each of you who remembered Roman together with us. I ask you to remember my Roman. He was not just a missing person. He was a husband, father, son and friend. A beloved man, whom we were waiting for.”
Post by Roman Maksymyuk's wife.
The last contact the former Ukrainian footballer had with his family was on January 30 last year. He called Vira and told her that he was heading to positions on the Pokrovsk front and that he might not be available for a period of time. But that period turned into an endless wait. From that moment on, there was no news about him. Maksymyuk was killed in the bloody fighting in Donetsk, precisely while trying to break out of the encirclement.
Another painful loss for Ukrainian sports 🕯️ Russia killed former Ukraine national team footballer Roman Maksymyuk. During his football career, he played for a large number of clubs, including Kyiv's Dynamo, Dnipro, and even the Russian Zenit. He played five matches for the Ukraine national team as a midfielder (1998–2002). He had been considered missing in action since the beginning of 2025; in recent days, DNA testing confirmed his death. "Please remember my Roma. He was not just missing in action. He was a husband, a father, a son, a friend. A person who was loved and awaited," his wife Vira wrote about her husband. Condolences to his family and loved ones. Eternal memory to the fallen defender...
— Vladyslav Heraskevych OLY (@heraskevych) October 17, 2026
He had voluntarily enlisted in the army in the fall of 2022, following the large-scale occupation by Russian forces. He served as an artilleryman in the 25th Airborne Brigade. He was initially stationed in Lutsk, then transferred to the Kharkiv Front and finally to the Pokrovsk Front. After retiring from football in 2011, he had obtained a coaching license, but failed to establish a stable career in this profession. Before the war, he worked as a warehouseman in a supermarket in Lutsk. During the first months of the occupation, he also participated in charity football tournaments with other veterans, with the aim of raising funds in support of the war.
The news of his death was widely reported in Ukrainian media. As early as June 2025, when he was still missing, the Ukrainian national team had paid tribute to him before a friendly against Canada in Toronto. The players took to the field wearing his Volyn Lutsk shirt, the last club he played for, as well as his military jacket.
