Ukrainian musician and Okean Elzy frontman Oleh Skrypka, in an interview with Vasyl Tymoshenko, spoke about the death of Andriy Kuzmenko, known by his stage name Kuzma Skryabin. The artist refrained from giving a definitive assessment of the circumstances surrounding the 2015 tragedy, but suggested that his colleague's death could have been used in the political interests of the Russian leadership, and did not rule out the version of premeditated murder. At the same time, Skrypka emphasized that he does not know the true causes of what happened.
"Fatum" or someone's hand: Skrypka does not rule out any version
During the conversation, the host directly asked Skrypka whether he considers Kuzmenko's death an accident or if he admits the possibility of murder. The musician replied evasively, referencing his own level of information. "I think it was fatum. And how it happened, I don't know. Or the Kremlin people killed him. He died. It was a real tragedy," Skrypka stated. Thus, the artist neither confirmed nor rejected any of the versions, limiting himself to stating that the circumstances remain unclear to him.
An attempt to create a "Che Guevara image" and the opposite effect
Skrypka placed the main emphasis in his remarks on the attempt, in his opinion, to use the public image of the deceased artist for propaganda purposes. According to the musician, the Russian side sought to present Kuzmenko as a symbol of the struggle against the so-called "Bandera authorities". "The Kremlin people used this phenomenon, that he was a fighter against the Bandera authorities. And it worked the other way around. That is, people perceived him as a positive hero, like Che Guevara, because people needed such an image," Skrypka explained. He added that even in the case of intentional murder, an attempt to construct the desired political image would have led to the opposite result: "Or the Kremlin people killed him and, again, wanted to make an image of Che Guevara out of him, a fighter against the Banderites, but it turned out completely the opposite."
Personal acquaintance: "I won't say we were friends, but we crossed paths often"
Answering questions about his personal relationship with Kuzmenko, Skrypka noted that they were not close friends, but regularly met. "I was acquainted. I won't say we were friends, but we crossed paths. We crossed paths often," the artist shared. Most of all, according to him, he remembered Kuzma's openness and his ability to find common language with any person. "He had the ability to find common language with any person. And he was completely unselfish," Skrypka emphasized, adding that Kuzmenko maintained friendly relations with both musicians and influential businessmen.
Official conclusions: an accident at a turn
To recap, Andriy Kuzmenko died on February 2, 2015, at the age of 46. On the eve of the tragedy, he performed a concert in Kryvyi Rih, and the next morning he left the city in his own car. The traffic accident occurred near the village of Lozuvatka in the Dnipropetrovsk region: the Toyota Sequoia SUV driven by the singer collided with a milk tanker. Kuzmenko died on the spot from his injuries. According to law enforcement agencies, the cause of the accident was failure to maintain a safe speed while negotiating a turn, as a result of which the car entered the oncoming lane. Despite the fact that after the artist's death, assumptions about a possible intentional murder appeared in society, investigative bodies found no evidence to support this version.
Context: interview and public position
Oleh Skrypka's interview with Vasyl Tymoshenko was published by Styler, an entertainment and lifestyle project of RBC-Ukraine. The musician's statements were made more than ten years after the tragedy and do not contain new factual data on the progress of the investigation. Nevertheless, the public position of one of the most recognizable Ukrainian artists has once again drawn attention to the discussion about how Kuzma Skryabin's death was perceived in the Ukrainian and Russian public spheres.
