Maksym Oleksandrovych Kryvtsov «Dali»
- Military rank: Junior Sergeant
- Position: Machine gunner
- State honors: Title of Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the «Gold Star» (August 22, 2025, posthumously); Order «For Merit», III class (January 22, 2024, posthumously); Medals «Defender of the Fatherland», «For Assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine»; Decorations «For Participation in the Anti-Terrorist Operation», «For the Defense of Ukraine», «ATO Volunteer»; Honorary breast badge of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine «Steel Cross»; Cross of Merit (January 17, 2024, posthumously);
And from the way everything Ukrainian that had previously been drowned out is surfacing today, it takes my breath away. Ivasiuk, «Smerichka», folk clothing, forgotten films… At the same time, I am afraid that the reverse process may happen again - a rollback, as it did after the 1990s
Biography
He was born on January 22, 1990, in Rivne. His father was a newspaper seller, and his mother was a school librarian. He studied at Rivne Secondary Schools No. 23 and No. 28. He practiced swimming for approximately 10 years. He graduated from the College of Technology and Design in Rivne with a degree in «Production of Nonwoven Textile Materials».
In 2014, he graduated from Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design, where he studied footwear and leather goods design. He worked at the Rivne Nonwoven Materials Factory, as a sales consultant, assistant tailor, photographer, and SMM specialist for the «Strokati Yenoty» project.
He was a participant in the Revolution of Dignity. From 2014, he was at the front as a volunteer and was a participant in the ATO/JFO. He took part in combat operations as part of the 5th Battalion of the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps «Right Sector» (2014—2015), and later served as a senior machine gunner in the Rapid Response Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine (2016—2019). After demobilization, he worked as a content manager at the «YARMIZ» Center for Readaptation and Rehabilitation of ATO and JFO Participants and as a copywriter at Veteran Hub.
With the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, he rejoined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served as a machine gunner in the Special Operations Forces. He took part in battles in Kyiv region, Kharkiv region, Kherson region, Luhansk region, and Donetsk region.
On January 7, 2024, Maksym's ginger cat, to whom he had dedicated a poem, was also killed together with him. On January 11, a farewell ceremony for the serviceman was held at St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral and then on Independence Square in Kyiv. He was buried on January 12 in his native city of Rivne, on the Alley of Heroes at the «Nove» («Molodizhne») Cemetery.
He had written poetry since his teenage years. His works were published in collections with other authors - «Book Love 2.0. Love and War», «Where Home Is: 112 Poems about Love and War», and «Lullaby of the 21st Century Vol. 1: What Lulls You?». He was fond of photography.
Maksym Kryvtsov was the cinematographer of two short films, «Truce» and «I Will Return», which were filmed in Pisky, Donetsk region, in 2015. Maksym also appears in an episode of Roman Liubyi's documentary film «War Note».