Soldier whose will was quoted by Zelenskyy killed in action

Twenty-year-old National Guard soldier Maksym Nahornyi – the author of the letter will publicly quoted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in parliament in June 2023 – was reportedly killed during a combat mission near the city of Pokrovsk on 19 July.

Source: Maksym’s fiancée Nataliia Suiva and his sister Ivanka

Details: At the end of July, the soldier’s relatives learned that Maksym, who served in the 3rd Spartan Brigade of Operational Assignment, had gone missing. His body was taken to a morgue in the city of Kamianske on 1 August.

His fiancée says that Maksym’s body was not shown to them, as it had lain in the heat for 10 days in the combat zone. They were only given a photo of his tattooed hand and images of his chain and bracelet for identification.

Nataliia and Ivanka submitted their DNA for identification, but were told that "this is not enough", as a male relative was required, otherwise the body would not be returned for at least six months.

"Maksym was an orphan. He has no living male relatives. We have no one to turn to. We do not know how to bring home the body of our loved one. We do not know how to bury a hero who gave his life for his country," said Nataliia.

After returning to the city of Lutsk, Nataliia and Ivanka contacted the police. However, they were told that this was a matter for the military enlistment office, but no one explained which one specifically.

Maksym Nahornyi was born in Lutsk and was raised in an orphanage from the age of four. He was later adopted but eventually returned to the orphanage. At 18, he voluntarily joined the Armed Forces and fought on the Kupiansk front, where he was wounded.

His name became known in 2023 after Ukrainska Pravda published his will in the form of a letter written in a dugout after a Russian attack. In it, the young soldier called not only for victory in the war but also for changing the country, particularly by dismantling the orphanage system he grew up in.

"I am a private in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, an 18-year-old soldier, Maksym Nahornyi," he wrote. "I am an orphan, and if I die for Ukraine, I do not want to become just another ink entry in the bureaucratic statistics of losses. I have a dream – to live a life that is not in vain and, besides achieving victory at the front, to help many orphans."

Maksym wrote that he dreamed of a country without orphanages. He said this system harms children and deprives them of a real childhood. He asked that Ukraine not return to the old system after the war:

"I do not want such a system to be rebuilt. I dream of a new Ukraine: a country without orphans; a country where children live in families and only in families. Because children need a family, not a warm place without love, dignity and respect, without happiness."

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly quoted an excerpt from this letter during his speech in parliament on 28 June 2023, Constitution Day.

Quote from Zelenskyy: "I want to quote the words of a Ukrainian soldier. His name is Maksym Nahornyi. He was born in 2004. He is an orphan. He serves Ukraine in the 14th Mechanised Brigade named after Prince Roman the Great.

Here are Maksym’s words:

‘I have witnessed terrible things that I want to forget, not remember, erase from my memory, just like yesterday in this damned war. But what about tomorrow?.. We must not rebuild the old system – let us create a new and much better Ukraine!’

These words from Ukrainian soldier Nahornyi deserve our support." 

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