UOC priest in Rivne region receives order awarded to his son killed in war

Archpriest Alexander Maksymiuk with the award posthumously conferred on his son, a soldier. Photo: Rivne Eparchy

On June 8, 2026, Archpriest Alexander Maksymiuk, dean of the Ostroh deanery of the UOC’s Rivne Eparchy, received the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 3rd class, which had been posthumously awarded to his son Alexander. The eparchial press service reported this.

The state award honoring soldier Alexander Maksymiuk was presented at the Rivne District State Administration. The priest’s son voluntarily joined Ukraine’s defenders before turning 20 and served in the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade. He was killed while pulling a fellow soldier from a vehicle that had come under enemy fire.

At the award ceremony, the soldier’s father said that no decoration could bring his son back, and that it would have been far better if Alexander were alive and had received it himself.

Relatives, friends, and the eparchy secretary, Archpriest Viktor Zemlianyi, came to support the archpriest.

As the UOJ reported, an avenue honoring fallen soldiers was consecrated in the Kharkiv Eparchy.

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