Maxim was taking a break from the front lines to celebrate his wife's birthday for the first time in six months when Russian missiles struck the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, causing damage to their house.
As he prepared to return, more determined than ever to fight back against the Russians in northeastern Ukraine and take every precaution to safeguard his loved ones, Maxim stated, "I'm distraught."
After taking a week off, he was scheduled to return on Monday, but the Ukrainian army has now allowed him one extra day to tidy up his house.
Maxim, a tall, bearded 45-year-old, declared that "this may happen everywhere" as long as Vladimir Putin is in charge.
The entrepreneur, who responded to the national call to arms as soon as Russia's invasion on February 24, vented his anger and frustration.
"Since my last visit home, it had been almost six months. I was allowed to celebrate my wife's birthday here, "He stated, holding out his military ID.
Far from the frontlines, he continued, "We are fighting on the front precisely to safeguard these locations." "But they still succeed in hitting them,"
Two days after Putin suffered humiliation when the only bridge connecting Russia and Crimea was partially destroyed, Russia launched 83 missiles against Ukraine, 43 of which were intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses, according to the defense ministry.
According to the most recent official count, the 40 more bombs struck many energy installations and infrastructure for civilians, killing at least 11 people and injuring 64 others across Ukraine.
According to the military governor Valentin Reznichenko, four persons were killed, and 19 others were injured by Russian rockets in the Dnipro region.
A spokesperson for the emergency services noted that the central regional city, also known as Dnipro, was "fortunate" in that no one perished there.
A first missile attack targeted an abandoned factory in a residential area of Dnipro, where drab Soviet-era buildings are eternally sprawled out.
Ten seconds after the first one, the second one came down in the center of the road, ripping out a hole several meters deep.
In a social media video of the attack, flames rise higher than the 12-story building where Maxim lives.
Businessman Oleg Komar, who is around 30 years old, believed he was in a movie.
"A tremendous crimson glow was visible. It was filled with smoke. Hell was it."
According to Sviatoslav Makov, the city's director of transportation, the collision occurred only a few meters away from a bus that was severely damaged and whose driver and several passengers were hurt.
Oleg Komar says, "we hope for the best, but prepare for the worse" in Ukraine.
Andrii Khalik, a 39-year-old city inhabitant, spoke of the enormous shock to his family.
Their modest desk and toys mostly made it through the incident undamaged, but Milana, his five-year-old daughter, wearing a lovely pink coat, is now convinced that Putin is a nasty person.