In the 90s, she packed stadiums - both in her native Ukraine and in Russia. The bright, daring singer Rusya (according to her passport - Irina RUSH) looked like two peas in a pod like her sister Natasha KOROLEVA.
The Korolev family, 70s.
There was a time when the two of them performed together - they went on tour with the “Two Sisters” program in all cities and villages. None of the spectators suspected that Ira had a sick son waiting at home. And all the numerous concerts were needed only to pay for his expensive treatment. And then Russia suddenly disappeared...
Before Russian stage a star rose under the name Natasha Koroleva, her older sister Irina Poryvai was already a famous singer in Ukraine, performing under the pseudonym Rusya. Her stage name (short for Irusya) was invented by her husband Konstantin Osaulenko, who was her producer and the author of all her hits.
Rusya and Natasha
I’ve even known Natasha longer than Ira,” Konstantin told me, whom I reached by phone in Miami, where the couple live today. - It was in 1985, we worked in Kyiv with the composer Volodya Bystryakov (he wrote the hit “Where did the circus go” for Valery Leontyev). His former classmate Lyudmila Poryvay approached Vladimir with a request to help her singing daughter, 12-year-old Natasha, get promoted. That's how we all met. And I met Irina a year later: we went to Sochi to earn money - to play dances.
I’m with my ensemble, and Lyudmila took her daughters. I remember that I invited Ira to also perform a couple of songs - she proudly replied: “Why not sing?” And the very thing happened to me true love at first sight. For life.
The happiness of Irina and Konstantin seemed cloudless. They got married, their joint work began to bear fruit - their popularity grew. Two years after they met, their son Volodya was born. Unfortunately, the boy had a terrible congenital disease - cerebral palsy. Serious money was required for his treatment. Russia squeezed everything it could out of its popularity: it gave several concerts a day. In 1991, Irina and Konstantin were invited to Canada to record their first album. They jumped at this chance to take the child abroad and show him to foreign doctors.
There is a very large Ukrainian diaspora in Canada,” says Konstantin. - There is a company there that promotes Ukrainian culture in the USA and Canada in every possible way. Her employees offered to fully sponsor our first album. We needed to survive on something, and we started looking for work. I don’t know how it is now, but in 1992 it was difficult to get a job outside the cordon. In the end, we accepted an offer to work in Toronto at a Ukrainian club - it’s something like a community of fellow countrymen and emigrants. We performed every weekend. As a result, we were stuck there for seven whole years. Foreign doctors were also unable to cope with Volodya’s illness. The Canadian diaspora gave money for promotion only for the first time, it soon ran out. Irina began to panic - why was she doing all this? It feels like it's been jinxed.
To earn money for her son’s treatment, she began giving private piano lessons. This did not bring much income. Failures fell on the spouses one after another, and real poverty “knocked” on the door. And then Ruse was suddenly offered a job as a conductor at St. Andrew's Church in Toronto, owned by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
“We are all Orthodox,” says Irina’s husband. - Baptized Christians. Naturally, to work in a church, you must be a deeply religious person. Ira agreed. She led a large choir, then worked at services, weddings, funerals, wakes - at all ceremonies.
The church servants saw that something was bothering the woman, but they didn’t ask, they understood that if necessary, she would tell her herself. And then what they were so afraid of happened.
Unfortunately, our boy died,” recalls Konstantin with a trembling voice. - He was 11 years old. I don’t want to go into details, but he had practically no chance. It’s still hard for Ira to talk about this topic. But that's part of life. In general, that’s why the Canadian period ended...
For Irina, life stopped. More and more often she spent time in church. Pastor George Hnativ urged patience and not despair. Ira didn't want to.
After all, this was not the first tragedy in the family,” says Konstantin. “Our son died in 1999, and six years before that, my wife’s father died of cancer. Her mother, having become a widow, was left alone in Kyiv. It was hard and lonely for her. Well, Igor Nikolaev, who was then still living with Natasha Koroleva, supported me. He invited Lyudmila Ivanovna to go to Miami to look after his daughter Yulia: the girl studied there at the Academy of Arts. Luda moved, still lives in the States, and even married Russian businessman Igor Alperin. When we lost our child, she called us to her place. At first, after the death of her son, neither her mother, nor her husband, nor her sister Natasha could bring Irina back to life. She found consolation in God. A Ukrainian church was found in Hollywood - a monastery courtyard. The woman went to all the services, and then got a job.
Yes, I know that Russia “struck” in faith, says Larisa Melnik, a family friend from Kyiv times. “It gives her a special peace and tranquility.”
For a long time, Konstantin and Irina could not decide to have children again. But today they have two wonderful children - a six-year-old son, Matvey, and a 4-year-old daughter, Sofia.
We decided to have children at a more mature age,” shares Konstantin. - By the way, Igor Nikolaev, with whom we are close friends, is our boy’s godfather.
My daughter and I started a joint business in America - we opened music school, - Lyudmila Ivanovna told me proudly. - The most gifted children were selected.
Today it has been ten years since Natasha Koroleva’s sister settled in the United States. She has gained a little weight, but still dreams of the stage.
Russia is still remembered by fans, says Konstantin. - Last year, at their numerous requests, we made a record. This New Year We recorded two more songs - church Christmas hymns. Unfortunately, the Rusya project does not generate income - it is a hobby. That's why I produce other artists as well. You need to earn money.
Apparently, everything has its time,” Natasha Koroleva says about her sister. - I believe that Ira has God's help everything will turn out the way she dreams.
Girl Rusyava, or simply Rusya...
She was born on June 9 in Kyiv in the family of conductors of the Svitoch choir of the House of Teacher Vladimir and Lyudmila Poryvay. More from early years sang in the choir and, of course, first went to a music school to study piano, and later graduated from the Kiev Glier Music College to study choral conducting. It was at this time that she met musicians from the Kyiv group “Mirage”, who then worked with the famous Kyiv composer Vladimir Bystryakov.
At that time, V. Bystryakov wrote several songs for Natalya Poryvai (later Natasha Koroleva), Rus’ younger sister, which the group recorded with her.
In the summer of 1986, all of the above with light hand Bystryakov went to work and relax in Dagomys, not far from Sochi. It was there on the dance floor that Rus' career as a singer began.
At the end of 1987, the group changed its name to "MidiM" due to confusion with Russian group"Mirage". At that time, it was actually a group of studio musicians who worked on phonogram recordings for many artists, including T. Petrinenko, N. Yaremchuk, V. Bilonozhko, A. Kudlay and others.
In 1989, Natasha goes to Moscow to become Queen. And Konstantin Osaulenko creates solo project"Rusya". In the summer of 1989, the musicians participated in the recording of the first songs of the album “Vorozhka”, the lyrics of which were written by Anatoly Matviychuk. In the fall of 1989, the album “Vorozhka” had phenomenal success in Ukraine.
The first concerts of Rus took place in Lviv in October 1989. Upon arrival in Kyiv, Rusya returns to the studio and records her second album “Rizdvyana Nich”, the song from which “Enchanted Kolo” brings her a diploma as a laureate of the “Song Vernissage” in 1989. This album was also recorded with poems by Anatoly Matviychuk.
In the summer of 1990, the album “Give Me, Mom” was released. This time the author of the lyrics was Dmitry Akimov. It was at this time that Russia was the first of the Ukrainian pop stars to gather the Sports Palace.
At the end of the year, in collaboration with composer G. Tatarchenko, Osaulenko writes two songs “Divchinka Rusyava” and “Popelushka”, the first of which becomes best song 1990, and the album “Give Me, Mom” takes first place in the album category. According to the results of the National Hit Parade, Russia is recognized best singer 1990
At the beginning of 1991, Rusya travels to England, where she takes part in a number of concerts for the Ukrainian diaspora. It was at this time that the album “Popelushka” was released. In May of the same 1991, three solo concerts at the Palace of Culture "Ukraine". Russia was again the first of a wave of young Ukrainian performers who managed to do this.
In the summer of 1991, Rusya worked in stadiums for the first time. While touring Western Ukraine, she simply moves to Lviv for a month and a half. During this period, she gives more than 100 concerts and thus again sets a kind of record. According to the results of the National Hit Parade, Rusya was recognized as the best singer of 1991 (two years in a row).
At the end of 1991, Rusya went to Canada, where, under a contract with the Yevshan company, she recorded the album “Rusya”; after recording it, she moved to Toronto, where she remained permanently.
In 1997 he recorded the album “My American”. The last tour in Ukraine took place in 1998 as part of the “Two Sisters” tour with Natasha Koroleva.
The last work appeared in 2007 and is called “Beautiful Songs”.
Natasha Koroleva's older sister Irina Poryvai was a sought-after singer. Whole stadiums easily gathered for her performances. However, soon the artist, performing under the pseudonym Rusya, disappeared.
Irina voluntarily said goodbye to the stage in 1999. Then her son Vladimir died. The boy whom the artist gave birth to from her husband Konstantin Osaulenko suffered from cerebral palsy. Doctors' forecasts from the very beginning were disappointing: functions are impaired, and organs may fail with age.
ON THE TOPIC
The parents fought for the boy's life. But the disease turned out to be stronger. Vladimir died at the age of 12, TV Program reports.
After this, Irina did not dare to have a second child for five years. But she still pulled herself together and gave birth to a son. The baby, who was named Matvey, was born healthy and strong.
In 2006, Poryvay had another child - daughter Sofia. The family lived calmly and quite happily, but at the age of four, Matvey was diagnosed with autism.
“Every day brings new problems. But probably, such children are given in order to change us. Going through difficulties, we change for the better,” explained Irina’s husband.
Star aunt Natasha Koroleva helps the boy fight. She pays for expensive treatment and hopes that Irina’s life can finally get better.
After all, Poryvay was once helped by the Queen. Irina won fame and love from fans earlier than her younger sister. Rusya gave concerts not only in Russia, she sang in Canada and the USA. At some point, the girls decided to go on tour together, presenting the “Two Sisters” program to the public.
When my sister became pregnant for the third time, she was very afraid to leave the baby. Her first boy died, her second unusual child, not like everyone else. But I told her: “Rusya, give birth, don’t even think about it, I’m sure it’s a girl!” Your daughter will be your reward for everything you have gone through. She is your future support in life.” Thank God, Ira listened to me...
It so happened that everyone in our family is creative, music people. Everyone who knows our mother understands what her girls turned out to be.
Mom Luda is always cheerful, lively, always with songs, dances, jokes and jokes. There was no question about what Ira and I should do. Of course music.
I remember how Ira and I sang Ukrainian songs in a duet on family holidays. Ira sang the women’s parts, and I… for the “peasant”. For greater authenticity, she put on her father’s sleeveless vest, a fur hat and sang in a bass voice. I announced: “The People’s Artist is performing Soviet Union Natasha Rush and... sister Ira!”
It probably sounded so convincing that my parents were sure from the very beginning: there was only one artist in our family - the youngest Natasha. And the eldest will be a good music teacher.
But the main thing is that I was sure of this!
From the age of three she sang “Cruiser Aurora” on stage with a large children’s choir. And I wasn’t the least bit afraid; on the contrary, it was clear that I liked it. At school, she led all the matinees, sang songs, and played in the theater. I never dreamed of anything other than the stage...
My sister and I were completely different from early childhood, although we were both Gemini zodiac signs. Two opposites, like Pushkin’s Tatyana and Olga. Ice and fire! Ira is tall, slender, just like her dad, and I am small, nimble, just like my mom. Yes, and our characters are different. Dad is soft, impenetrable, will not get into trouble again, delicate, non-conflict. And Ira is the same. She lived by the principle “if necessary means necessary!” I never quarreled with anyone, I was constantly “fighting”.
My leadership with youth showed up very clearly.
And Ira always liked to obey. This is probably why she loved pioneer camps so much. Ira’s parents sent him there for three summer shifts. It was a joy for her to get up on the forge, walk in formation, stand in a line! When her parents came to visit her on weekends, she asked: “Don’t worry, I feel so good here, don’t even come again!”
And I was the complete opposite. I hated living on a schedule. I remember how I was cunning and begged my parents not to send me to pioneer camp: “I’m small. Have pity on me!
For the same reason, I didn’t like kindergarten. I remember how I tormented my compassionate dad so much with burning tears along the way that he turned at the door of the kindergarten and came back with me. But I liked school, it was already freedom: if I wanted, I came, if I wanted, I left.
How did we turn out to be so different?
Don't know. Two sisters on the same territory - this is a constant showdown! I don’t know about others, but that’s how it was for us. I reported to my mother about Irina’s “misdeeds” regularly and with great pleasure. Naturally, not only out of harm, but also pursuing mercantile considerations. She often had to cajole me, the mischief-maker. And sometimes I used blackmail, tried and tested more than once: “Oh, you didn’t let me wear this blouse to the disco, I’ll give it to my mother!”
Probably, five years difference is already a lot. If only we had been the same age, we would probably have grown up more friendly... Our mother was smart and once a year at work she always arranged for herself a trade union trip abroad.
Ira and I were looking forward to my mother’s gifts, and God forbid one of us got an extra skirt. One day my mother brings us T-shirts from Czechoslovakia. I count their number and immediately raise a cry: “And Irka has two more T-shirts!” Or one day my mother brought me a fashionable “varenka” from Poland. Ira has a tragedy, she is in tears: “I brought Varenka for Natasha, but not what I wanted for me.”
It’s natural that my sister and I fought. In this, in my opinion, all children are the same. It couldn’t have been any other way! For a long time, in our small-sized “kopeck piece” we shared one room between two people. They didn’t make double-decker beds back then; I had to sleep with Irka on an ordinary folding sofa with a felt top. And in the morning, a showdown began: who kicked in who at night.
God forbid that any of us encroach on someone else's pillow - a furious battle would immediately begin.
Only when my mother, by hook or by crook, exchanged our two-room apartment for a three-room apartment, did I finally “knock out” my own sofa in the living room. It was happiness! We no longer had to sleep on the jack.
But our main battlefield was the most ordinary wardrobe. In our common wardrobe (as they said in polite society back then), all the shelves were strictly divided: mine (due to short) are the lower ones, and Irina are the upper ones. There was order on my shelves, but... my sister came back after class, ran in, undressing as she went, and stuffed her things onto my shelf at random. All my neatly folded blouses turned into a disorderly pile.
This carelessness infuriated me to the point of white heat. I adored order, I got this from my dad. Mom always scattered her things, dad always cleaned up after her. And it turns out I have to clean up after Ira? The wrong one was attacked!
So there was endless swearing over the order in the closet. Mom tried to calm us down, citing the example of the neighbor’s daughters, whose room was in sterile order. We tried our best, but after a while I again found my things dumped on the floor, and the squeals and screams began again.
When I realized that it was impossible to correct my sister, I decided to take revenge on her. Ira had American jeans - the subject of my terrible envy. One day I slowly stole them from her and “adjusted” them to my size. I must say, thanks to our labor teacher, I learned to write on a typewriter very well.
Mom even once said to dad: “Maybe Natalka should become a dressmaker?”
I got a taste for it and gradually wore all of Irka’s clothes - jeans, skirts. This was my revenge! I remember how Ira, having slept through a “couple” of sleep, tried to fit into her jeans. She pulls them with all her might, she’s already blushing from the effort! What a laugh it was! When Ira finally realized what was going on, I quickly ducked into the kitchen. The show has begun! Irka runs after me around the table shouting: “I’ll kill this little one now!” Mom tries to shout over us: “Enough! Well, how long can this go on!” Ira begins to sob: “Natasha is already wasting my fifth item!” And I, happy that I did my “dirty deed,” hide behind my mother. Well, who doesn’t like to spoil their older sister?!
Mom tried to be fair.
But dad always stood up for me. I was daddy’s daughter, his favorite, although it would seem that my sister was similar in character to him. Apparently opposites attract. He looked at me and saw my mother, whom he loved very much for her active and cheerful disposition. And then it was her dad who persuaded her to give birth to a second child, he hoped it would be a boy. My parents even came up with a name for me - Bogdan. Now I often tease my mother: “You see how good it is that you listened to dad. If I had had an abortion at one time, so what? And who would you host the “Lunch Time” show with?”
And, probably, dad was sure that I would not be lost in this life. And in Ira he saw himself, his shortcomings, his insecurities.
It was as if he had a presentiment that life would be much more difficult for his eldest daughter than for me...
Therefore, Ira and her dad had conflicts, especially during her adolescence. I remember how dad made comments to her all the time. And although they were on business, she still took them with hostility. On the other hand, it seems to me that Ira and I got through this difficult period quite easily. For example, I never smoked, I didn’t even try, I convinced my friends to stop smoking: “What are you, a herd of sheep? Is it true that everyone smokes? And if everyone starts running off the cliff, will you follow them too?”
And my Irka secretly smoked. She was weaker than me and succumbed to this fashion among girls.
I remember I climbed into the closet, and from there her things smelled like cigarettes. I sniffed her blouse, and grinned contentedly to myself: okay, Irochka, I got it! Now we will make a report in small handwriting!
And when the boys started courting Ira, that’s when I turned around! The younger sisters are all nasty, they love to pawn the older ones one more time.
At the age of 16, Ira had a very whirlwind romance, they might even have gotten married... if it weren't for me.
Igor, her first love, studied medicine. I remember how he gave it to my sister for her birthday huge bouquet tea roses At that time it was a fortune! Then they gave at most five carnations or one frail rose.
Ira carefully hid her affair from her parents. But Natasha Stirlitz was not asleep and was the first to figure everything out!
Until now, Ira always came after class on time. And then suddenly she began to linger, showing up regularly after 12 at night. Mom was very worried: what about it? My daughter walks alone through the park, what if someone offends her? Ira came up with a lot of excuses: she either studied with a friend, or was late in class. Mobile phones It wasn’t there then, you couldn’t catch it.
We lived in residential area Kyiv. Our tram stop was the last one; we had to go through the park to get to the house. And then one day the girls and I were playing “rubber band” not far from the tram stop. It's already dark. The tram arrives. And suddenly I see a couple scratching towards us. The lovebirds are walking, holding hands, hugging, kissing.
I look - bah! - the blouse is familiar. This is my Irka coming... So, normal! I follow them through the bushes, through the bushes, keeping my distance, like an experienced scout. She examined the guy and gave him a long goodbye kiss. “Well,” I think, “things are going on!” I'm so lucky! It’s good that I played with the rubber band and didn’t go home. Luck fell into my hands. Well now, Irka, hold on!”
Ira, observing secrecy, tenderly said goodbye to her boyfriend, not reaching our entrance, and I rushed around, again through the bushes. My heart almost jumped out of my chest while I was jumping three steps up the stairs - I had to run up first and pretend that I had been sitting at home all this time and hadn’t seen anything. Ira rang the doorbell. Her parents gave her another headache.
She lied again: she said she was staying with a friend. And I slyly didn’t say anything yet, I just thought to myself: “Come on, come on... tell stories, storyteller!”
The next day, Ira, despite her mother’s stern warning, again did not show up on time. Five minutes past twelve - Ira is gone, fifteen - still not there. I gloatingly do not take my eyes off the minute hand. There was silence in the house, as if before a storm. Finally the doorbell rang. I look out of our door so as not to miss the next performance.
There is a smell of Corvalol throughout the apartment, and my mother, with her head bandaged, is sitting on a stool in the hallway. Ira, with downcast eyes, babbles something guiltily in her own defense, I run around my mother with the bottle.
Ira, how much can you do?!
I was late because of a test...
And here I sarcastically insert my two cents: “Isn’t your test the same guy you kissed at the bus stop yesterday?”
A modest, ordinary scolding instantly turned into a stormy showdown. Mom started crying: “Who were you kissing? Since you’re hiding from me, that means I’m no longer your mother?!”
Ira was very offended by me then and did not speak for a long time. But I felt protected by my parents...
Even though I was a mischief-maker and could have laid Irka down like that, I repeatedly covered her, insured her, and stood by her. And I always begged money from our grandfather for Ira for new boots or a blouse.
Only my charm was able to influence the strict grandfather, and he went to withdraw money from the savings book, and I gave it to Ira for new clothes.
When Irina's first love went into the army, I secretly read his letters. Oh, how much love and tenderness there was in them, everything was so romantic! And when he returned, Ira was already meeting with Kostya. And my friends and I met my sister at the bus stop in the evening to accompany her home. And the abandoned groom tried to make a scene for Ira and waited for her at the entrance.
But these were all such little things! By and large, there were no issues with Ira; the problems were with my rebellious character. And what will grow out of me?
Nobody expected surprises from Ira. And when suddenly crazy popularity happened in Irina’s life, she overnight became the number one star in Ukraine, it was a surprise to everyone. You could say she mixed up all the cards... Or rather, I mixed up these cards.
And it was like this. That summer, after the Chernobyl accident, I was sent to a pioneer camp near Odessa. For three whole months! The first month was given to me with sweat and blood, every day I wrote hysterical letters to my parents: “Take me home from this horror!”
At this time, Ira entered the Gliere Music School in the conducting and choral department and was forced to stay in Kyiv. Which later, perhaps, did not serve her very well... in terms of health - hers and her future children's... And then I was summoned by telegram to Kyiv for a teleconference with Czechoslovakia.
On their side is 12-year-old Darinka Rolintsova. This Czech girl sang with Karel Gott himself. Our Ukrainian side needed no less famous child. Who was the most important child of Ukraine? That's right, Natasha Rush!
The head of the camp personally escorted me to the station. On my birthday, May 31st, I'm driving all alone in an almost empty reserved seat carriage. Well, who normal would go to Kyiv contaminated with radiation? I was so upset! If I were in camp now, I would cheerfully celebrate my twelfth birthday. And here nearby - not a soul! For the first time in my life, I felt some kind of incomprehensible emptiness.
After the teleconference, I returned to camp a different person. A celebrity with star laurels!
I was greeted as a hero. It turns out that our entire pioneer camp watched on TV how their Natasha communicated with a Czech girl.
After this return, I suddenly began to pay attention to the boys. Just recently, they were all my favorite boys, and then suddenly I began to look at them as objects of love. I looked and looked and finally saw one...
Naturally it was blue-eyed blond. Even then I liked tall, long-haired guys with an athletic build. By the way, my favorite type hasn’t changed since then...
It was during that “pioneer” summer that my first love happened, which completely reconciled me with being in “prison.”
I calmed down and stopped rushing home. When I fell in love, the camp immediately became interesting. My chosen one was only a year older than me: I was 12, and he was 13. The first glances came, we danced “slow” at the disco to the group “Forum”. The setting - the sea, the starry sky - was conducive to a romantic mood. Stormy life in the camp began after lights out. The counselors, not paying attention to us “little ones,” had affairs. My Nazar and I ran on dates, sat for hours, holding hands, under the moon on the seashore...
Our friendship with Nazar lasted several years. I say “friendship” because we had a purely platonic relationship, by the way, the song “Kiev Boy” is about him!
Towards the end of summer, in August, our active mother decided to take my sister and me, along with the cultural institute where she worked, to the sea. She made a fuss, and we were taken to Dagomys to a tourist camp. I didn’t want to part with Nazar, but what to do...
At that time I sang as part of a musical Ukrainian group"Mirage", directed by Kostya Osaulenko. I was the highlight of their team - such a little girl with a clear voice sings popular pop songs. So I managed to get this group to our camp site - to play at dances. When I had already become a star, albeit on a Ukrainian scale, my Ira studied diligently in music school without knowing what fateful meeting waiting for her in Dagomys...
There I introduced my sister to Kostya.
They fell in love with each other and got married after some time. So, without realizing it, I, it turns out, brought them together...
I continued to sing with Kostya’s ensemble, worked closely with composer Vladimir Bystryakov, performing his songs “A World Without Miracles”, “Where the Circus Went,” and performed in other cities at many venues and stadiums. I gained experience and learned from experienced singers. And, believe me, there was someone to learn from! All the performances in which I took part in the children's block were usually completed by famous and folk artists- Nikolai Gnatyuk, Nina Matvienko, and of course Sofia Rotaru! She drove to the stadium in an open car and did a victory lap with the song “Moon, Moon, Flowers, Flowers.” So I moved step by step towards my cherished dream- stage.
But Ira didn’t even think about the stage. When she and Kostya got married, she had just turned 19. Nothing, it would seem, foreshadowed her steep rise as a singer. She devoted herself entirely to her family.
I was happy for my sister, because I had known Kostya and his parents for a long time. Kostya’s family lived in a prestigious area of Kyiv called Lipki in a luxurious apartment. I remember the first time I went to see Kostya, and it felt like I was in a museum. Kostya actually has an interesting pedigree. He has a thermonuclear mixture of blood: his paternal great-grandfather was the famous teacher Ushinsky, and his mother was a Tatar with unusual abilities.
To get to the house of Kostya’s parents it was necessary to climb the stairs, since it stood on a mountain. So, this entire staircase, arch and entrance were filled with people.
Ira soon gave birth to her first child. Her birth was difficult, and the child was injured. Doctors gave him a terrible diagnosis - cerebral palsy.
When Ira first gave birth to Vova, her mother-in-law immediately said: “This is the doctors’ mistake.” And then she added: “The child was stillborn. He was revived." The doctors, naturally, did not tell us such details and did not admit their guilt.
So what should I do? Sue them? Will you help Vova with this?
No one could cope with this disease. But Fatima Gizatulaevna tried very hard. She obtained scarce medicines for her grandson through her own channels. Our family did not have such an opportunity then: neither financially, nor connections...
Being left with a terminally ill child in your arms is a great challenge for a young family. As soon as my sister endured all this... Rusya and Vova did not leave the hospital for the first year.
If she had taken after her mother’s personality, life would probably have been easier and simpler for her. She didn't go crazy at 20 only because God suddenly gave her an outlet - solo career something she never dreamed of...
Kostin's team gathered for a pop song competition.
As a soloist, I didn’t fit in age - I’m only 15. And then Kostya invited some singer to take part in a competition with them, but last moment she refused. What to do? There was no other replacement. And then Ira herself suggested to Kostya: “Let me try to sing. I still have music education" They recorded several songs. Kostya came up with an idea for her stage name- Russia. This is short for Irusya.
And then suddenly the incredible happens! Not only did the group win the competition, but there was also a wave of people’s love for its lead singer Ruse, which was in no way explainable or predictable. Ira took off instantly, out of the blue, without any spin.
It was a bolt from the blue! Can you imagine, in one day Rus' could have 5-6 performances in stadiums packed with her fans!
It was a gift of fate for the fact that she found herself in such a difficult, one might say tragic, situation with her son. Ira and Kostya began to earn good money, all of which was spent on treating a sick child. But popularity had another side. When Ira went out for a walk with Vova, passers-by recognized popular Russia and looked with curiosity at her sick child in a stroller. How did she feel?
Our family always lived with the hope that we would definitely cure Vova. It was a clear message - he will get better! There are such children in other families, we are not the first, we are not the last - we will cope!
We not only have conversations, even thoughts on the topic “Should we abandon a sick child?”
did not arise. Naturally, everyone rushed to help Ira. We can say that the family united around Vova. Each of us, no matter where we found ourselves, looked for doctors and medicine for our boy. We were obliged to save him and did everything possible and impossible for that time: we treated him in hospitals, took him abroad to clinics, looked for rare specialists who dealt with this problem. By hook or by crook they ordered for crazy money the latest drugs in America. But no amount of money or medicine helped, there was no improvement. Medicine was powerless in his case. But hope dies last... During this period I moved to Moscow.
Irina’s rise in popularity coincided with my departure. My life at the age of 16 also changed dramatically. I met Igor Nikolaev and became Natasha Koroleva...
But Ira remained in Ukraine. Life there was very difficult and complicated. For some time my sister and I found ourselves very far from each other. But I never forgot everything that concerned Vova and always tried to help. It was sacred. The first question when we called back was the following: “How is Vova?”
Thank God, Ira and Kostya had their own apartment. Vova had a nanny, teachers were invited to visit him. But this was not enough for him - Vova wanted communication. He had an unusually bright brain, and he understood everything. Vova was drawn to children, he wanted to be with them like everyone else, to run and play.
And he was closed within four walls from the whole world! But my dad did not allow Vova to be sent to a specialized school. He believed that his grandson should be taught at home; he wanted to see how the teachers treated him.
At the height of Irina’s popularity, she and Kostya were invited to Canada to record an album. Having arrived from devastation to a civilized country, they decided to stay there for the sake of the child - so that, having received citizenship, they could transport Vova there. All conditions have been created for children with this disease: a good boarding school, excellent treatment. This was the last chance to save my son.
Ira and Kostya decided to take this step, knowing full well that they were losing everything in their homeland: success, money, career. The creativity was over. But this is no longer important: the main thing is to help Vovochka... They suffered greatly in separation from the child, they called their mother endlessly.
Ira cried and just repeated: “Be patient a little longer. We'll pick him up soon..."
We all lived in hope that a country with better medicine would help our sick boy. He will have an operation in Canada and he will begin to walk.
When Ira and Kostya left, Vova turned four years old. Mom and Dad agreed to stay with him. At first, Ira and Kostya were restricted from traveling abroad and could not come to visit the child. Vova missed his parents very much, but we did not let him grieve. We have very big family: grandmothers, aunts, cousins. So he didn’t have the feeling that he was lonely, that he was abandoned, that he was not loved. He was surrounded by the care and love of all his relatives. Mom brought Vova to Moscow several times.
We took him to a famous doctor in Tula.
We realized the whole tragedy when the child began to grow up. He still did not walk and could not sit, he moved only in wheelchair. But we tried not to lose heart, supported each other: “Nothing. Our Vovochka will definitely walk with his feet..."
All the doctors who treated him repeated in one voice: “Children with such a severe form of the disease do not survive the teenage period...” To believe them meant giving up. And we had no right to do this; we could only hope for the best. "Nothing! - our mother said. “Medicine does not stand still, doctors will come up with something...”
But life goes on. We and only we are responsible for a sick child.
No one but us needed our Vova. No problem, let's break through! We will hire teachers, we will develop him, work with him. Everyone lived in the hope that Ira and Kostya would soon get back on their feet in Canada, but for now it was useless to expect material support from them; they earned crumbs there. I turned out to be the main financier in this difficult time. Thank God, I had tours, performances, concerts. In our family, no one has ever been considered - this is our common pain, our cross...
Parents still took care of Vovka. They took turns keeping “watch”: mom spent a week with Vova, dad spent a week with Vova. A nanny was with the child around the clock. My parents lived in two houses. They were in their apartment when they needed to rest.
When Ira and Kostya were finally able to come to Kyiv, they were faced with a choice: stay in Ukraine or return to Canada.
But by the time they returned, everything had changed in the country. Instead of money - coupons, empty shelves in stores, gang warfare, complete confusion. No one needs them on the stage; there have long been other stars there. Russia disappeared from the horizon so suddenly that its popularity faded away. Although the audience continued to recognize her, every second person on the street stopped her with the exclamation: “Oh, Rusya, we still remember you. How wonderfully you sang!” So what of this!
What was Ira to do? Should I become a music teacher at school or, like many professors and academicians, should I stand at the market and trade? But for this you need to have courage. This isn't Canada, where no one knows you.
You have to be very strong man to ignore the grins.
Ira could not do this. She felt scared. And they couldn’t think of anything else to do to get back to Canada. It’s simpler, easier...
For several years, Ira and Kostya traveled from Canada to Kyiv to see their son. And they lived in two countries. They brought rare medicines and gifts for my son. When Vova turned 8 years old, Ira and I organized a “Two Sisters” tour throughout Ukraine to earn money for his treatment.
But, alas, the doctors’ predictions came true: our poor Vovochka passed away at the age of 11. He never saw his happiness...
It so happened that Igor Nikolaev and I were on tour in Toronto at that time.
Ira and Kostya came to us backstage. Suddenly my mother called: “Vovochka is no more...” Ira is standing nearby and still doesn’t suspect anything. And I understand that I now need to tell my mother that her son has died. But I can’t! Well, how can I say this? I don’t remember how I told Ira and Kostya about this, how I later sang on stage about “small country” and “yellow tulips” - everything was like a fog. I know that for this I had to gather all my will into a fist...
This tragic story has had a profound effect on all of us. For eleven years we fought for the life of our Vovochka, but God took him away, it was the most difficult test, and we all needed to go through it. And we walked hand in hand... But dad couldn’t stand it, this tragedy with Vova crushed him.
He died six months before his grandson left. Three months later, his beloved grandfather left behind him. My three favorite men lie side by side in the cemetery. On Vova’s monument we carved the words of his favorite song about a swallow: “Swallow, swallow, say hello to this boy...”
With Vova’s departure, life seemed to stop for Ira. There was no way we could rouse her or bring her to her senses. She found peace in church. Ira’s faith helped her a lot; she began to serve in the church as the regent of the church choir, and only there could she console herself and save herself from bad thoughts. We were very afraid during this period for Ira, we were afraid that she might commit suicide. After the tragedy with her son, Rusya never appeared on stage again.
This is the difficult story of the 90s, which lit a star named Rusya, and under certain circumstances extinguished it...
Ira and Kostya moved to Miami under my mother’s wing.
Ira is a driven person, she must be led. This is what our mother has been doing all her life. Ira says about herself: “I need everything to be laid out for me, explained what and how to do, then I will do it.”
After the grief she experienced, Ira kept repeating one thing: I will never give birth again! Her mother persuaded her: “What kind of family is this without children? So much time has already passed, let’s give birth...” Then the mother repeated: “I talked her into trouble...” And she and Kostya had a second boy. And also difficult...
What a fate for Ira! How difficult it is for her to have children, how she suffers! Our great-grandmother was very worried about Ira, crying, wailing: “Misfortune does not fall twice in the same family!
This never happened even during the war. Our mother hid the children in a bomb crater and said: “The bomb doesn’t fall in the same place twice!” This is truly a one in a million case!
Matvey was born in Miami as an absolutely normal baby. A child of extraordinary beauty, smart, lively. The doctors did not find any abnormalities. He received six vaccinations at the same time per year. The reaction was very strong. He burned for a whole week - the temperature was below 40. Nobody paid attention to this, and when he was diagnosed a year later, they remembered it...
It was his mother who noticed the first strangeness in his behavior. One day they were walking with little Matvey in the park. And suddenly she sees that he has stopped by a tree, waving his arms and babbling to someone.
Mom sees a tree, but he clearly sees something else!
And one day 2-year-old Matvey came up to the door, pointed his finger at the “peephole” and began to say something. Mom opens it - no one is there. But you can’t drag Matvey away from the door. He stands there, waves his hands and says something, says...
Or they walk, for example, along the ocean. He walks in one direction with pleasure, laughs cheerfully, but when he turns back, he begins to resist. Mom drags him by the hand, but he won’t do anything!
When enough such oddities had accumulated, my mother shared her concern with Ira: “Matvey needs to be shown to a doctor. There’s something wrong with him...” We were all shocked when the doctors announced: Matvey is autistic.
We didn't know what it was. And no one in the world still fully understands this phenomenon. There are a million versions: some consider it a congenital disease, others associate it with vaccinations. As American doctors, such as Matvey, explained to us, indigo children are normal, it’s you and me who are abnormal. “These are the children of the future!” - said the doctor. “But they live in the present!” - Mom objected to her. But the doctor could not explain how to reconcile the future with the present...
One thing is clear - these children are special, not like us. Matvey is a very nice, kind boy, he just lives in some kind of imaginary world of his own. The world of ordinary people is not interesting to him. He does not need the friendship of children, he has no emotions. We don’t even know how he sees the world around him!
And us too...
Matvey comes to the playground and immediately climbs onto the very high point and sits there for hours. From there he looks at the trees, how the sun hides behind a cloud, how birds fly... and talks to himself. He is not interested in life below, or in the games of his peers in the sandbox.
Sometimes he gets down from his seat and, bored, comes up to his mother. He will sit next to you, put his head on your shoulder and silently hug you. He is a very affectionate child...
I like Matvey. I love watching him. I really want to understand what he sees in the sky? What is he thinking about? Thanks to these observations, I immediately recognize special children - by the way they stand on tiptoes, do not make eye contact, do not interact with peers and do not speak.
Until the age of six, Matvey did not speak a word.
Progress is already being seen. But he doesn’t like words, he speaks out of necessity. Sometimes he can say more with his facial expressions than with words.
Matvey constantly needs the support and help of adults. You should never let him out of your sight. If he rides a bike, you need to keep an eye on him. God forbid he turns a corner and gets lost. All his clothes have his name and address embroidered on them. Just in case…
These children cannot exist in society. They are often mistaken for being mentally retarded, but this is not the case. They just can't communicate with outside world. We, adults, must become their guides.
Matvey is nine years old, but in everyday life he is completely helpless.
He needs to be led and told about everything. Such children are brought up using the training method: “Go there! Put it here! Take a spoon! And Matvey obediently washes his hands, walks as if along a path to the toilet, and lies down in his bed. Matvey learned the way home, he knows the right button in the elevator, he was taught to ride a bicycle.
Such children should not change the route, otherwise they will get lost and disappear. He doesn't need company; he turns to his mother only when he needs help.
And although at first glance Matvey is all himself, he recognizes us all...
I try to make my son Arkhip, who is 11 years old, understand how carefully one must treat his brother, that Matvey is not like everyone else, that one cannot treat him like an ordinary child.
For example, we are going to Disneyland with our children.
For Matvey, this place is unfamiliar, and this makes him stressed. Our children - Arkhip and Matvey's younger sister Sonya - know that you must definitely take him by the hand and not let go, because he can get lost.
My sister took her son to doctors and psychics, and a speech therapist works with him. Every year Matvey undergoes a course of special procedures: he is placed in a pressure chamber and the brain is saturated with oxygen. And every time we are happy to notice progress in its development. There is an improvement - that means there is hope!
We couldn’t help Vova and we will do everything for Matvey. He is like a flower that needs to be watered every day. And we all say to Matvey every day: “I love you!” He understands this and smiles...
Sonechka is almost three years younger than Matvey. Ira became pregnant when no one suspected his autism. Otherwise...
Thank God, Sonya was born. She loves her brother very much and tries to look after him. Mom told how she and her children once went to a cafe in Miami. Suddenly Matvey broke loose and ran headlong somewhere. Mom froze in horror - she couldn’t keep up with him. Sonechka bravely rushed after him. She caught up with her brother, grabbed him and sternly scolded him: “Grandma is old, she can’t catch up with you. Why are you running away? And he understands her, nods his head. Sonya took her brother by the hand and led him along, and he, as big as a bear, with a drooping goes with his head obediently for the little baby...
Sonechka knows that her brother is not like everyone else, and takes care of him like an older sister.
Matvey loves to go to the tennis court with her. She works out there, and he plays pranks: he collects tennis balls and doesn’t give them back. Sonya sternly scolds him and explains to the players: “Sorry, my brother has autism. He didn’t do it on purpose...”
It’s impossible to watch without tears how Matvey puts his head on Sonechka’s shoulder and strokes her. He shows her that he loves her very much...
All that remains is to pray to God that he will give us all the strength to pass this test.
This is some kind of karmic story. Tragic story with the first son, then the illness of the second. Why is this Ira? I don't know…
Maybe he and Kostya are paying for the sins of previous generations in this way? In any case, it seems to me that everything in this world happens for a reason...
When mom comes to Moscow to record the program, she finds no place for herself and worries about Ira and her children. I even came up with a theory for myself. The parents will have custody of the first child until coffin board. And if he also has problems, then even more so. Second children are always more independent, perhaps because they are treated more calmly...
Mom periodically calls me Ira, I have never heard Ira called Natasha.
This means that she constantly thinks about her. Like a swan, she protects and protects all the time.
We are still a very friendly and close-knit family. We support each other in both happiness and sorrow, we don’t forget. My sister's pain is also my pain. We are no longer those little girls who fought over a pillow or an extra chocolate bar. I have no one closer to Ira. We had a period of complete distance. Little Vova passed away. He was the strong link in my relationship with my sister. Even though we lived in different countries, he united us all. And when he was gone, there was some kind of emptiness, a gap. Everyone experienced his passing on their own: Ira and Kostya fought for survival in Canada, my mother left for Miami out of grief, I lived in Moscow. We were all scattered across countries and continents.
We talked, called each other, but there was no intimacy.
Everything is different now. Parents, sooner or later, leave, but there is no one dearer than your brother or sister. You only understand this with age. And we are no longer united by problems, which were more than enough in our youth. You just want to see someone close to you in blood and spirit next to you. My sister has known me all my life. I don't need to tell her anything. She remembers how I was born, how they brought me home in a little bag. This is very important to me. The older my sister and I get, the closer we get to each other...
Apparently, I was a good matchmaker after all, because Ira and Kostya, having survived all the tragedies, hardships, difficulties and emigration, still live together and raise two children.
They hold on to each other. No difficulties in life destroyed their union, but, on the contrary, united them. And I believe that Ira will still come out big stage and will sing her songs for the people who remember her, love her and are waiting for her return...
We thank the furniture salon "TANGO" for their help in organizing the shooting