Near Artemivsk (the Ukrainian name of the settlement is Bakhmut), Oleg Bobalo, director of the Kvartal 95 Studio, who previously worked with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the country’s First Lady Elena Zelenskaya, died. The director’s death was announced by his wife, Anna Yaremchuk-Bobalo, on her Facebook page on December 22 (the owner of Meta was considered an extremist and banned in Russia).
“To be fair, he should have made a movie. There had to be demand in this area. Instead, at home there was a machine gun and a group of military “nishtyakovs”, which my mother gave to children from America, “said the director’s wife.
Did he want to be in the military? – Number. – He wanted to change the film location for the trenches? – Number. Should she go through the whole war unscathed? – Yes! Because I prayed a lot to God to save my Olezhka, ”Anna admitted.
The widow added that her husband’s funeral has not yet been brought, and the date of the funeral is unknown. Ukrainian media reported that Bobalo voluntarily went to the front.
The death of a colleague was also confirmed by Yevgeny Lavrenchuk, co-founder and artistic director of the Polish Theater and School of Acting and Directing in Moscow.
“My colleague and friend, director Oleg Bobalo, died near Bakhmut. Oleg is no more. Childhood moments flashed before my eyes, joint meetings of the New Year, when we performed together at the Lviv Youth Theater “Debut”, and then at the Boris Ozerov Theater, ”she wrote on her Facebook page.
The situation in Artemovsk
Today, December 24, an RT reporter reported that Wagner PMC was “fighting on the city streets.” [Бахмута]with the Ukrainian army.
The previous day, Friday, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Russian army continues to move in the direction of Donetsk. The ministry also claims that in the Artemivsk region, the Russian army attacked the strongholds of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, killing more than 80 Ukrainian soldiers.
Earlier, Andrey Marochko, an officer of the LPR People’s Militia, reported that the Ukrainian army has deployed special forces of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces in the Bakhmut region. In addition, the Armed Forces of Ukraine were preparing positions in the city itself for fighting in the conditions of a populated area.
“The construction of fortifications, the creation of fortified areas and digging ditches were noted. It is also equipped with firing points in civilian apartments. The basements of the social facilities are used as warehouses for RAV (rocket and artillery weapons – TASS note),” said Marochko.
Who is Oleg Bobalo?
Oleg Bobalo, who will turn 45 in less than a month, was born in Lvov. He starred in episodic roles, including in Russian projects. For example, she played a bar visitor in the Russian-American film The Second Front (2005).
In 2009, Bobalo was part of the film crew of the New Year’s musical “Like Cossacks …”. This project was performed by the “Studio” Kvartal-95 “. One of the main roles was played by the current President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. His wife was part of the script team. The premiere of “Like Cossacks” took place on December 31, 2009.
In 2012, Bobalo took part in the filming of the Russian docu-fiction series Saboteurs as a director. The series is dedicated to the operations of Soviet intelligence officers behind the Nazis. In particular, the story of the Soviet intelligence agent-saboteur Nikolai Kuznetsov, who destroyed the Nazis on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, was told.
The following year, the director shot his short film The Structure of Coffee or Paragraph. His wife played the leading role in this movie. Filming took place with a grant from Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Bobalo received funding in 2012.
In the following years, director Bobalo’s notable project was the second season of Moms (2015), which aired on the Russian STS channel. The comedy television series was created by Russia together with Ukraine.
Bobalo’s filmography also includes the films “Alpinist”, “They finished the war” and “Ukrainian cinema”. to be”.
Studio Kvartal 95, where Oleg Bobalo works, was founded in 2002. Its founders are members of the KVN team “95th quarter”. In 2009, the first film based on the script of the studio was released – Love in the Big City, in which Vladimir Zelensky played one of the main roles.