"Russia Is Struck Out Forever": Alexey Sukhanov on the Closure of "Hello Ukraine," His New Role in "Vyghovsky," and His Disillusionment with People

Alexey Sukhanov, who has traveled the path from one of Ukraine's most recognizable TV hosts to actor and creator of his own media space, spoke candidly in a fresh interview for Wave RBC.UA about how the war and personal transformations have rewritten his views on the world. In the conversation, he admitted that for him Russia is "struck out forever," and that the greatest pain and personal blow was the closure of "Hello Ukraine" — the main project of his life, around which his professional identity was built for many years.

The Role of the Scribe in "The Adventures of Cossack Vyghovsky": A Breath of Fresh Air and Irony over History

On August 31, 2026, the premiere of the adventure series "The Adventures of Cossack Vyghovsky" will take place, in which Sukhanov played the role of a scribe. By his own definition, this is not a historical drama but an "adventure series with elements of humor," allowing one to "look a bit ironically at what was in our history before this, what we have come to the present with, whether we have worked through certain mistakes — not only at the level of the political system, but of our everyday life and relationships between people in general." Sukhanov emphasizes that working with director Semyon Gorovoy and the entourage of "real stars" became for him "a breath of fresh air, additional experience, and an opportunity to distract myself and try myself in something more interesting."

The Ukrainian Language as a Principle Position and Self-Criticism as a Way of Survival

In the interview, Sukhanov spoke in detail about how he mastered the Ukrainian language from scratch, making it not just a working tool but a principled personal position. He noted the depth of the Ukrainian language and the difficulty of perceiving modern public hate, which, in his words, has become one of the characteristic features of public space. Speaking about self-criticism, he admitted that "I always have an extremely large number of questions about myself" and that "you cannot eat yourself." Sukhanov linked the habit of self-criticism to his Soviet childhood, when children were "leveled to standards and then compared," and gave the example of "Eralash," where, in his opinion, forms were unconsciously practiced that are today called "gaslighting and abuse."

"Hello Ukraine": A Blow That Does Not Let Go

The most emotional part of the interview was the discussion of the closure of the show "Hello Ukraine." Sukhanov directly called this event a "blow" and the "greatest pain" in his professional and personal life. The project, which he hosted and developed, became for him not just a job but a space where his public identity was formed. He perceives the closure of the show as a symbol of a broader process in which personal projects and voices give way to systemic decisions. At the same time, he does not hide that it was precisely through this experience that he rethought his attitude to the world: "I see what is happening in the world, and now I cannot say that I easily trust people."

Disillusionment with People and a Choice in Favor of Animals

One of the most unexpected and quotable statements in the interview was the answer to the rhetorical question "Whom would you save: a person or an animal?" Sukhanov chose the animal without hesitation, explaining this by the fact that "in the absence of the analytical abilities that nature gave to people, they are honest, they are more sincere and purer in any sense than us." In his words, the analytical functions given to a person "we use in a different way, and this becomes a huge problem for ourselves and for those animals that are forced to live in the human world." This statement became, in essence, a concentrated expression of his general disillusionment with the human world, formed by the war experience and observation of public processes.

Context: From Television to Acting and Personal Transformations

Sukhanov's trajectory — from a host of federal formats to an actor, author, and public intellectual — reflects a broader process of rebuilding the Ukrainian media space after 2022. His path, including mastering the Ukrainian language "from scratch," changing genres, and the public rethinking of values, makes his figure one of the notable markers of how the war and the national context transform not only the professional but also the existential coordinates of public figures. The premiere of "Vyghovsky" on August 31 will become for him not just a new job but, in his own words, an opportunity "to make sure myself, look and analyze" — without others' evaluations, which for a person who calls himself "extremely self-critical" is, perhaps, the most difficult and important stage.