The wife of former Ukraine international Roman Maksymiuk, Vera, announced his death on Friday, 16 October, after DNA testing confirmed the former Ukraine midfielder had been killed in combat in the Donetsk region.
“I ask you to remember my Roma. He wasn’t just missing. He was a husband, a father, a son, a friend,” she wrote.
The 50-year-old had been listed as missing in action for about 20 months. His last contact came on 30 January 2025, when he told Vera he was moving into position in the Pokrovsk direction and would be unreachable for a long stretch.
Identification was made from a DNA sample his daughter Daria had provided earlier.
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Gunner with the 25th Airborne
Maksymiuk joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the autumn of 2022, serving as a gunner with the 25th Sicheslav Airborne Assault Brigade. According to UNN, he was killed while his unit was trying to break out of an encirclement in the Donetsk region.
The YouTube project Bombardyr, which had been due to record an interview with him when he came back from position, said the news arrived in a short brigade message.
“They said in the brigade that he fought like a lion,” the project told Nasha Niva.
Dynamo Kyiv marked the news on the same day.
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“FC Dynamo Kyiv extends its sincere condolences to Roman Maksymiuk’s family and loved ones,” the club said, closing the statement with “Eternal honour to the Hero!”
A domestic double in 1999/2000
Born on 14 June 1974 in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, Maksymiuk won the Ukrainian league and the national Cup with Dynamo Kyiv in the 1999/2000 season and earned five caps for Ukraine between 1998 and 2002. He also had long spells at Volyn and Dnipro, with more than 100 appearances for each, and shorter stints at Chornomorets, Prykarpattia and Kryshtal Chernivtsi before retiring from professional football in 2011.
While he was still listed as missing, his old club and the national team honoured him in Canada. On 7 June 2025, Ukraine ran out for a friendly against Canada in Toronto wearing a Volyn shirt and Maksymiuk’s own military greatcoat, in a gesture aimed at supporting his family and reminding spectators that the war concerns everyone.
Ukraine lost that match 4-2.
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