March 20, 2025
В Suzdal, After being denounced and removed from his post as host of an animation film festival, the 78-year-old died Vadym Zhuk — poet, actor, playwright, screenwriter.
I wrote it in the drawer.
Loved on the table.
Lived on the table.
Died in the drawer.
When he really died,
We even started sweating,
Picking up the keys to the box,
To find out what he was really like
(17 March 2025)
Born in 1947 in the post-war Leningrad.
He graduated from the theater studies department of the Leningrad Institute of Theater, Music and Cinematography (now the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts).
He worked as an actor at the Omsk Youth Theater and appeared in over 20 films, including "The Captivating Star of Happiness." Vladimir Motyl, "Mournful numbness" Alexandra Sokurova and "Pop" Vladimir Khotinenko.
He was the sole creator and artistic director of the Leningrad theater studio "The Fourth Wall," whose productions were shown on national television. He also wrote scripts for skits for the Central House of Actors. He believed that "what's bad should be laughed at."
He has published several collections of poetry.
The apple and pear trees are blooming again,
and over the river there are fogs at night,
but the Fatherland's gold is broken
its acid-base balance.
Salute-labor balance,
almost an abundance of fabulous food,
but the cities and villages remain
in dire anticipation of trouble
(1996)
In the early 2000s he was a co-host Mikhail Zvanetskogo on the "Simple Things" program on RTR. He wrote verses for the programs. Viktor Shenderovich "Free Cheese" (TVS) and "Processed Cheese" (Echo of Moscow).
Co-author of the libretto of the musical "Jolly Fellows", "Overcoat. Coat" to music Maxim Dunaevsky and "Russian Grief" to music Sergei Nikitin (School of Contemporary Play), as well as the musical performance "The Forest" (the "Comedians" theater).
He co-wrote the screenplay for the remake of "The Return of Buratino" and the animated films "The Dog Door," "The Tale of the Wolf," "The Fox," and "Vanya and the Leshy." He also composed songs for the animated films "Masha and the Bear," "KOAPP 20 Years Later," and "Soldier's Song."
I would like to have a house near the temple
At the edge of the century,
I'd like a volume of Mandelstam
Yes, a garden bench.
I wish I had an easy neighbor -
An ant and a sparrow,
Half-drunk conversation
About the habits of being.
Outside the window they look into the water
Clouds and lanterns.
I would like some quiet freedom
If not outside, then inside
(2018)
In 2020, he signed a letter in support of protests in Belarus After the start of the "SVO" he wrote dozens of anti-war poems.
Poems are not a cure for madness,
Know that mine is three times not mine, President.
If Ukraine is a foreign state
I am a foreign agent four times.
(February 26, 2022)
This is what is happening to me,
My grandson is aiming the gun
To the cities of a foreign land.
Where does the rocket hit?
He doesn't even know about this,
He's finishing up the cabbage soup with blackberries.
At the cheerful field kitchen
(25 March 2022)
He died at the annual Suzdalfest animation film festival, where he had hosted for many years. This time, he watched the opening ceremony from the auditorium, having been disqualified from participating (he learned of this after arriving in Suzdal).
As it turns out, back in February, members of the "Veterans of Russia" public movement filed a denunciation with the Prosecutor General's Office, the Ministry of Justice, and the Investigative Committee, accusing Zhuk of a "Russophobic position," "humiliating the dignity of his compatriots," and discrediting the country.
On the eve of his death, Zhuk wrote to a journalist and writer Alle Bossart:
So far, they've simply banned me from everything—my name on posters, my performances. They even banned me from hosting [the festival] in Suzdal. "Veterans of Russia" asked them to look into it. So, they're doing it.
In the morning, after breakfast at the hotel, he went up to his room and died.
Last night I published my last poem.
The words cannot be heard.
I don’t hear any silence or splashing,
Your voice is invisible, your sound is invisible.
And the sun's motionless circle breathes
Behind the thin curtain of clouds
