Maksym Ustymenko

Maksym Yuriiovych Ustymenko (Ukrainian: Максим Юрійович Устименко; 1993 – 29 June 2025) was a Ukrainian fighter pilot with the rank of pidpolkovnyk in the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He was a participant of the Russo-Ukrainian war, during which he was killed in 2025. He was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.^[1]

Maksym Ustymenko
Native name	Максим Устименко
Birth name	Максим Юрійович Устименко
Born	1993 (1993) Kharkiv, Ukraine
Died	29 June 2025 (aged 31)
Allegiance	Ukraine
Branch	Ukrainian Air Force
Years of service	2017–2025
Rank	Pidpolkovnyk
Battles / wars	Russo-Ukrainian War †
Awards	Order of the Gold Star (Posthumously) Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 3rd class
Alma mater	Ivan Kozhedub National Air Force University

Biography

Born in 1993,^[2] he was a classmate of the fallen pilot and Hero of Ukraine Andrii Pilshchykov.^[3]

On the night of 29 June 2025, Ustymenko fought off a massive Russian attack in an F-16 fighter jet; he managed to destroy seven air targets. While practicing on the last target the plane was damaged; the pilot took the plane away from the settlement, but did not have time to eject.^[4]

Awards

• Titled Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the Golden Star (29 June 2025, posthumously)^[1]
• Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 3rd class (28 February 2022)^[5]

Military ranks

• colonel (as of 2025)^[1]
• pidpolkovnyk (as of 2022)^[5]