War doesn`t care about your social standing, money, or age. It takes both experienced warriors and very young people… 18-year-old Maksym Tkach planned to finish building the house and marry. 20-year-old Semen Liashchuk was close to his home and family but rediscovered himself in the army. 20-year-old Bohdan Ishchuk was a conscript and should not have been caught in the war in the first place. How did these young boys end up on the frontline? What did they manage to achieve in their short lifetimes and what will now never come to be? The young defenders are remembered by their loved ones.

This text was prepared by the Memorial memory platform that tells the stories of the Ukrainian military and civilians killed by Russia, exclusively for Ukrainska Pravda.

Soldier of the 53rd Mechanized Brigade Maksym Tkach was killed in action at the age of 18 in Donetsk Region"He came out against a russian tank with a machine gun and distracted the enemy allowing his brothers-in-arms to retreat"

Maksym Tkach was born on the 23rd of October 2003 in the village of Torske, Donestk Region. He spent his childhood in the town of Kreminna, Luhansk Region, raised by his mother alone. The boy wanted to become a director or a boss and loved poetry. He enjoyed writing poems in school and learned each one he read by heart. He even attended a local poetry club "Little Swallows". He also liked football. He played for a local team "Little Cossack" and even trained other boys.