Sergeant Maxim Molchanov OBM, the combat soldier in the 411th artillery brigade who was murdered yesterday (Thursday) in an attack on Route 443, was interviewed about ten months ago on Galei Tzahal after he donated bone marrow and saved the life of a 12-year-old boy through Ezer Mizion.
In an interview on the "Hakshev" program, Maxim Molchanov OBM shared his story and said: "A nurse called and explained to me what the process of a bone marrow donation is all about. I had been back at my base for about a week, and my officer came to me and said that they called me from the hospital about a bone marrow donation. He asked if I wanted to do that, and I said: 'Yes.'"
In May 2022, at the time of his enlistment into the IDF, Maxim Molchanov OBM joined the national database of bone marrow donors through Ezer Mizion.
A few months later, he received a call from Ezer Mizion informing him that he was found suitable for a bone marrow donation to save the life of a 12-year-old boy.
Maxim went through the grueling vetting process and, last December donated bone marrow for a child he didn't know.
In Maxim’s brigade, they mentioned his life-saving contribution. "This is Maxim, a lone soldier who immigrated from Ukraine. At the beginning of the month, when most of his peers joined the brigade after completing their training in Shivta, Maxim received a phone call telling him that he was found suitable for bone marrow donation. After consulting with his commanders, Maxim decided to undergo the surgical procedure and saved the life of a 12-year-old boy."
Officials at Ezer Mizion commented on the horrific attack, saying that “Maxim’s life that was cruelly cut short will continue to exist in the child whose life was saved thanks to his donation.”
20-year-old Molchanov, a lone soldier who immigrated to Israel in 2017 from Ukraine through the Naaleh program, completed the formal immigration process in 2021, and enlisted in the IDF in 2022, and served as a combat soldier in the Artillery Brigade. He was promoted from corporal to the rank of sergeant after his murder.