Maksym “Max” Oseredchuk, former producer for the US TV channel ABC News turned UAF servicemember, was killed on 24 June, ABC News reported on their website and in an Instagram post.
According to the reports, Maksym Oseredchuk died in a Russian drone strike aged 30. He had been drafted into Ukrainian Armed Forces several months prior, serving in the Marine Brigade No. 34.
“ABC News has lost one of its own. Max Oseredchuk was killed by a Russian drone strike last night. Few will know his name, but our team asks that you take a moment to think of him. Max was from Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. He was a friend, colleague, and a warm face amid the Russia–Ukraine war to many at ABC who reported in the field,” the news outlet reported.
ABC News added that Oseredchuk had become an integral member of the team, escorting correspondents and producers on trips around the country and frontlines, keeping them safe to report the news.
“He was a journalist turned soldier, soon drafted into the army after working for ABC. He was just 30 years old and leaves behind a wife and a baby girl,” the report reads.
Maksym was born on 4 November 1995 in Vuhledar (Donetsk oblast). After graduating with a master’s degree in business economics from the University of Vinnytsia, for several years he worked in business as a logistics manager.
The family’s apartment was destroyed as Russia seized the city following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Maksym began working with ABC News from Kyiv. After leaving ABC News, Max worked for the New York Times as a driver and fixer. He followed in the footsteps of his father, who is also a driver for international media.
“Max was no ordinary colleague – he touched the lives of everyone he came into contact with. Max believed in the journalistic mission of telling the stories from the hardest-to-reach parts of his country that are still under attack,” ABC News writes.
According to the Institute of Mass Information, Maksym Oseredchuk is the 132nd media professional deceased in the course of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
