Maxim “Rugby player” Yalovtsov is a fan of the football club “Dynamo” (Kiev), a representative of the team “Capitals”.

Maxim Vadymovich Yalovtsov was born on August 5, 1990. His father served as a border guard on the territory of the former union, so when his mother began to give birth, he tried to quickly deliver her to the hospital by military helicopter. Due to difficult weather conditions, the crew went off course, and Maxim came to this world, literally, in the sky. In 2002, the family moved to Kiev, where he and his brother studied at school No. 300. Since childhood, he was fond of sports and was very developed physically. At the same time, everyone around knew the young man as friendly and always smiling, who never regretted anything for friends and acquaintances.

Over time, Maxim seriously became interested in rugby. Among players and those related to this sport, he was jokingly called “MI-8”, and those who did not understand the referral, or did not believe - could always show a certificate of place of birth. He played for the main team of FC Aviator in the top division of the Ukrainian championship. Teammates recall that in those years he could sometimes miss training, but he was always put at the heart of it. they knew that no opponent would pass Max one on one.

He first came to the fan sector of the capital “Dynamo” at the age of 16, and at the age of 18 he joined one of the strongest teams in the capital. Together with “Capitals” he was an active participant in football events and participated in high-profile international confrontations, later becoming one of the most recognizable representatives of the capital movement.

Like the vast majority of football fans, in 2014 he was an active participant in the revolutionary events on the Maidan. After the beginning of the Russian invasion in the east of the country, realizing the possibility of a large-scale war, he became a co-founder of the organization “Civil Security”. Within the framework of the “Civil Safety Academy” project, everyone was able to gain basic skills in handling weapons and self-defense techniques. Visitors to those busy remember Max as an attentive and responsive instructor who interestingly taught the basics of handling weapons, and was still always on the positive side.

Mixed martial arts occupied a prominent place in his life. “Rugby Bist” was the medalist of the 2021 European Championship in grappling, master of sports in freestyle and pankration. A separate love was Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He was the bronze medal winner of the European Championship 2020, and with his closest friends made significant efforts to develop the culture of this sport in the capital. He conducted training and master classes in grappling, and in the last years before the Great War, a hall was opened.

A separate calling card of Maxim was his famous sense of humor. A huge number of people knew his sometimes non-standard, but certainly always funny jokes of a man with a big heart. Many videos on social networks were devoted to these jokes, and the page of the same “fighting Jesus Christ” was known by people from everywhere who were not even familiar with him personally. In 2020, he came as a volunteer to help rescuers during large-scale forest fires in the Chernobyl zone of the Kiev region.

In the first days of a full-scale war, “Rugby” rallied like-minded people around him, among whom were his teammates, as well as those who were ready to fight for their land. Having first gathered in the same hall where Maxim taught the basics of handling weapons, they later participated in the defense of the capital. Nearby, as always, was Valeria's beloved. Both in civilian life and from the beginning of a full-scale invasion, she organized a reliable rear for Maxim and his comrades. Before the war, they began to work together on a common cause, in 2023 they planned to get married and children, dreamed of their own house and farm. - “For every wife, her husband is the best, the strongest, the bravest, a real hero. My husband was like that and is for everyone,” she says.

Inside March 2022, the enemy struck the Retroville shopping center. Most of the group, with which Maxim was, were in the building. From the impact, many fighters fell asleep inside, and the room itself began to flood. The brothers recall that Maxim got many of them out of the rubble with his own hands. He himself did not suffer at the time of the blow and was able to save many friends.

After the liberation of Kyiv region, “Rugby” continued to defend Ukraine. His brothers remember him as a very brave and responsible fighter. During this time, he helped and taught many. And he was also ready to participate in complex operations, where most would refuse to go. Maxim Yalovtsov died on September 21, 2022 while performing a combat mission in the rear of the enemy in Zaporizhzhya region. A warrior for life and a man of honor, he walked with weapons in his hands, defending his native land. He was buried on the Alley of Glory of the Forest Cemetery in Kiev.

On October 13, 2022, the players of the Kiev Dynamo, together with the fans, honored the memory of Maxim Yalovtsov after the Europa League match with the French “Rennes”. On January 22, 2023, UFC fighter Igor Poteria paid tribute to the fallen warrior before the performance against the Brazilian Maui Risio Rua. Then the Ukrainian fighter folded his hands on his chest in the shape of a heart - the signature gesture of the “Rugby Bist”. On February 24, 2023, a video of the musical artist YARMAK for the song “May we, brother, be lucky” was released. Among the video series with famous personalities - photos of Maxim from his popular sketches in social networks.