Ukrainian father has hitchhiked a gruelling 500 miles across Ukraine to spend just 24 hours with his wife and two children before being deployed to battle the next day.Maxim Lietova, 38, hitched lifts with truck drivers, walked and used public transport to travel the 500 miles to reach his family at their home in western Ukraine.

Maxim, who had been offered a small window of leave before being sent to the frontline to fight Russian soldiers, travelled throughout the night and finally arrived at 6am on Monday and was able to surprise his wife Olga, 33, and their two children Masha, six, and Miskha, two, when they woke up. 

'I did everything I could to get home,' Maxim told The Telegraph, adding that he will never take those moments with his family for granted.

Maxim, who hadn't seen his children since March, explained: 'When I was a child and my Mum and Dad said goodnight to us, we didn't understand the importance of this gesture. Now this phrase has greater meaning for me.

'Now I wish for all the world to go to sleep under a peaceful sky.'

After spending a fleeting 24 hours with his family, Maxim was deployed to the frontlines again.Heartbreaking photographs show Maxim, wearing his army uniform, and his wife Olga holding each other and kissing before he was sent off to fight against Russia.

The couple have travelled long distances to see each other - even if it meant seeing each other for mere minutes - since the war began six months ago.

Last month, Olga drove 466 miles across Ukraine to surprise Maxim and spend just 20 minutes with him after he returned from military training in the UK.

Maxim recalls watching in amazement as he was Olga running along a road in a blue dress towards him and his comrades. Maxim, overcome with emotion, sweeps her off her feet and holds her as they both cried with relief

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian families have been torn apart in the war, with soldiers fighting on the front lines for months at a time without being able to return home.

Olga and Maxim know, that after their most recent 24 hours together, they might not see each other for a long time. Despite how hard it is to leave his wife and children, Maxim says it is his duty to serve Ukraine. 

think it's the duty of every man in Ukraine to defend our motherland,' Maxim, who worked as a sales manager for Nestle before the war, said as he held his wife's hand at their home in western Ukraine. 

'How would my wife and children look at me if I were afraid of an air raid siren?'

Maxim and Olga met at school in Kryvyi Rih, the city in central Ukraine where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky grew up, but did not fall in love until 10 years ago.

For those 10 years, the couple have never had two days apart - which means that any chance they can get to see each other during the war, they take it.

But Maxim does not know when he will next see Olga and their two children.