Helena Maksyom

Helena Maksyom is a Ukrainian documentary filmmaker and reserve Captain of the National Guard of Ukraine. She tells stories from inside the experiences most people only read about — and for over three years, she lived one of them.

Before the war, she co-directed Everything Will Not Be Fine (2020), which premiered at IDFA and won awards in Ukraine and Romania. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, she enlisted with no military experience, served across Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, and rose from private to Captain. She filmed the entire time. That footage became Don't Ask Me If I Killed (2026).

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The men she served with are still fighting

Helena served alongside her brigade through some of the hardest battles of the war. She was wounded, and she lost friends. Today she brings aid to the men still holding the line — and right now, they need encrypted radios to stay alive.

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