Andriy Kuzmenko

Andriy "Kuzma" Kuzmenko (Ukrainian: Андрі́й Ві́кторович Кузьме́нко; 17 August 1968 – 2 February 2015) was a Ukrainian singer, writer, TV presenter, producer and actor. He was best known as the lead singer of the rock band Skryabin, founded in 1989.

Kuzmenko was born in Sambir, Lviv Oblast. He was married to Svitlana and had a daughter, Maria-Barbara, born in 1997.

Kuzmenko died in a traffic collision on 2 February 2015 in Lozuvatka, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, aged 46.

Kuzmenko was born on August 17, 1968 in Sambir, Lviv region. His family moved to the city of Novoyavorivsk where he started his career. As a child he dreamed of becoming a driver of the garbage truck. His mother was a music teacher, father was an engineer. Andriy was the only child in the family. Kuzma said that from a childhood he was a "trump guy". Andrew graduated from music piano school. He graduated from the Faculty of Dentistry. He was not interested in it, but finished his studies at the request of the parents. Went in for sports, was a candidate of sport master in biathlon. On 13 September 1997, he and his wife Svitlana had a daughter, who was given the name Maria Barbara, in honor of the Polish actress Barbara Brylska, childhood idol of Andriy Kuzmenko (according to him, his wife resembles Barbara Brylska a lot).

2000s

The future life story of Andriy was closely connected to the group Skriabin. In 2000 Andriy became a presenter of his own hit parade "Hot Seven", which existed until 2002. Approximately starting from 2003 Kuzmenko works as a presenter of the program "Chance" and "Shikanemo" with the singer Natalia Mogilevska. Since then Andriy has all the levers of management over the project Skriabin, begins to create a completely different music than ever before. In 2006 Kuz'menko reveals himself as a talented writer after the publication of his own autobiography book "Me, Pobeda and Berlin." It became wildly popular and has been reprinted several times since then.

In 2009 he created the group Payushchie Trusy (Singing Pants), helped to gain popularity to the project "DZIDZIO". In the same year he was a member of the jury of the literary award "Book of the Year B-B-C"

2010s

At the end of January 2014 Kuzma recorded a song dedicated to the events of Euromaidan, noting that he supports the people on the Maidan, but not the opposition. During the 2014 war he helped the military men and wounded in the area of ATO in eastern Ukraine.

In October 2014 he launched his own Internet radio called «S.R.A.K.A.», which, according to him, was playing the music he listened to in the car.

Shortly before his death he was widely criticizing the current government in almost every interview, wishing death to them and accusing of corruption.

Death

On February 2, 2015 around 8:20 Andriy died in a car accident near Lozuvatka village in Kryvyi Rih Raion in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. On the same day the press service of the Department of State Automobile Inspection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine reported that according to the preliminary data, the Toyota Sequoia SUV driven by Andriy Kuzmenko collided with a GAZ-53 on the 86th km of highway "Kryvyi Rih – Kirovohrad". As a result of the collision, the injuries Andriy Kuzmenko acquired in the collision were fatal. Kuzmenko was returning from Kryvyi Rih, where his band had been performed the day before. Andriy's alleged passenger was taken to a hospital in Kryvyi Rih.

Actor

• Evenings in khutir near Dykanka (2001) — Kuzma, a friend of Vakula (indicated in cast list as Andriy Kuzmenko).
• Lesya+Roma (2006) — as himself (cameo)
• Carnival night at Inter (2006) — as himself
• Very New Year Cinema (2007) — guest at the New Year Holiday in museum (cameo)
• Little Red Riding Hood (2009) — Blue Beard