Free Spirit Cossack Vasyl Kukharsky

In memory of the famous actor and real hero of Ukraine.

Vasyl Kukharsky was seriously wounded and famous American actor Sean Pen visited him at the hospital. Sean Pen who was in Ukraine at that time. He knelt in front of him and said: “I am also an actor, like you. But you are a real hero because you defend your native land.”

I heard this story from Natalya Hordiy-Kukharskaya, Vasyl’s wife, she was near her husband for almost four months after he was wounded. We all, his relatives and friends, hoped that Vasyl would survive because he was so strong, he has always been like a rock, supporting everyone around him: both in peaceful life and war. It seemed that there could be no obstacles to his strong will and powerful spirit. But on December 7 Vasyl passed away...

It is difficult to find the right words to tell what kind of person Vasyl Kukharsky was, but I will still try.

The famous Ukrainian actor was born on December 2, 1981, in the city of Radomyshl, Zhytomyr region. Vasyl liked to joke that he was a bit Belarusian since in the local dialect there are many Belarusian words (just as in the Belarusian border areas you often hear the Ukrainian language). Since 2005, Kukharsky has played in the famous Theater on Podil in Kyiv (plays:“One Hundred Thousand”, “Trap”, “Machine Orange”, “Scissors”, and “Love Potion”), and was awarded national theater awards.

He played dozens of roles on TV and in movies, as well as the main role in the movie Maksym Osa: The Doghead’s Gold. This movie is of great importance for Ukraine because it is about the strength of the Cossack spirit, about the overcomers and the fact that one must fight for one’s freedom.

When the war began, Vasyl Kukharsky with his wife and little son lived in Bucha. Russian tanks were already in the city when the actor and his family were evacuated to Kyiv. Their house was seized by the invaders. Vasyl did not wait for the summons and volunteered. He was a junior sergeant in a rifle machine gun platoon. At first, he took part in the hostilities near Kyiv, then in the Bakhmut and Avdiivka. He was awarded the Golden Cross of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – the award of Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny.

His brothers-in-arms loved Vasyl very much: the “actor”, as they called him, never boasted of his fame or status, and sense of intelligence, he was handsome and charismatic. The most important: he always remained calm, even in the most difficult battle conditions, when the irreparable could happen at any second. On the contrary, not being formally a commander, he resolutely suppressed panic if it suddenly arose, calmed, united and set up coordinated team actions. He always prayed before a fight because he was a very religious man.

In one of his last interviews, Vasyl Kukharsky said:

“In war, many non-believers become believers... I met people who said: ‘Why are you talking about God! We have only the Armed Forces of Ukraine and ourselves. Do you think that God shoots a tank or something like that?!’ But when they arrived at a position and blasts were close to them, I noticed that some fighters in cover, somewhere in a corner, suddenly began to pray and talk to God. And there, in the trench, they began to believe in the force that, covering them, left them alive.

Everyone is scared of war, but fear should not paralyze a person, it should become a force for solving certain tasks...

Prayers give you amazing power. Before going into battle, the guys read a prayer. Because God is power. I would say first ‘Glory to God!’, and then ‘Glory to the fighters!’ Because God's will, love and light inspire those fighters who go to destroy the enemy. The glory of the Armed Forces of Ukraine depends on the power of God.”

Vasyl Kukharsky could sing amazingly. He participated in the X-Factor, a popular Ukrainian project, before the war. He performed the Notre Dame de Paris - Le temps des cathédrales song there. Vasyl sang this song to the soldiers as part of the Cultural Landing performance two hours before his fatal wound on the front line in Zaporizhzhia...

Vasyl starred in the video for Sviatoslav Vakarchuk’s song “Well, come on!” The actors had a good relationship with the leader of Okean Elzy band: the singer visited him in the hospital and dedicated this song to the memory of his friend.

The last role of Vasyl Kukharsky was the role of an Angel in the short movie “The Story of an Angel” by his wife Natalya Hordiy-Kukharskaya. There, his hero says that some people come to Earth to “change the morality of humanity.”

Vasyl Kukharsky was just such a person. I tried to bring light and goodness. Defended his homeland from evil. Helped many people. He definitely made the world kinder and fairer.

Vasyl strongly believed that:

“Nothing will change an idea when the time has come! We must live in love and light, and we must enjoy life. God made us that way, and we came to this Earth that way: to make it even better. The world must understand that we need to live with love and joy. Positivity and goodness are the basis of God's will. Therefore, thank God that we are moving on, doing good deeds and cleansing the planet from evil. We liberate our Nenka [mom - Ed.] Ukraine from those dark forces that existed for a long time and are still here. When a person goes over to the side of the light, there is less and less darkness. Therefore, there would be more people of light acting for the good.”

Natallia Radzina, Editor-in-Chief of Charter97.org

Farewell to Vasyl Kukharsky will take place in Kyiv today, December 10:

10-00 at the Theater on Podil (Kyiv, 20B Andriivskyi Uzviz)

13-00 at the St Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv (20 Shevchenko Blvd.)