Maksym Kryvtsov

Maksym Kryvtsov, call sign “Dali” (1990–2024), was a poet, photographer, and machine gunner, who joined the defense of eastern Ukraine in 2014. He served in the National Guard, worked at rehabilitation centers for veterans, mentored children, and enlisted in the Special Operations Forces in 2022. His award-winning poetry collection, Вірші з бійниці (Nash Format, 2023), is forthcoming as Poems Through the Loophole (Jantar Publishing, 2027), translated by Larissa Babij and Helena Kernan, with support from PEN Translates. A collection of his prose in Ukrainian, На мінному полі пам’яті (The Minefield of Memory: Diaries, Essays, Stories, Nash Format), was published posthumously in 2025. Kryvtsov’s poetry has been included in numerous anthologies and set to music by several Ukrainian bands. His military honors include the Presidential Order of Merit, the Commander-in-Chief’s Cross of Merit, the Cross of the Special Operations Forces, and the posthumously awarded the title Hero of Ukraine.