On 9 May, I was shocked to learn that Sergei Dorenko had died. I did not have the right words to express my feelings about his tragic death. Today, when the farewell ceremony takes place, I, unfortunately, will have to go on a business trip. Unfortunately, I could neither say last goodbye nor had I time to come...He was a symbolic figure for post-Soviet television and post-Soviet politics. He made us feel like he was saying to everyone who tried to climb political Olympus: “Well, come here, let’s see who and what you are. But do not complain, you yourself wanted to become a public figure. So now I will examine you under a microscope, and everything that you wanted to hide will become known to people.”
Was it unfair? Doesn't a voter have the right to know how his candidate lives and what he likes and is happy about? Sergey thought so. He made brilliant shows on television and later on the radio! The brilliance of his talent, the professionalism of the highest standard caused enormous admiration.
However, there were those who, most likely because of all these unique qualities, hated Dorenko. Just remember how Sergey's shows were. Of course, there were many haters.
I regret that Sergei did not have time to come to Kalmykia. The vastness where the steppe touches the sky was exactly the place where he just had to go. But he did not have time. The most terrible words in life: did not have time. Didn’t I invite him properly? I'm sorry.
The ceremony was supposed to take place last Sunday, but the police forbade the body to be given to the widow for burial.
Farewell ceremony will be held in the ritual hall of the Troekurovsky cemetery. The ceremony will begin at 11 am. However, previously it had been postponed at the request of Sergey Dorenko’s daughters from his first marriage, Ksenia and Katerina. They thought that their father could have been poisoned by his new wife. However, additional forensic examination did not find traces of poisoning in the blood of the presenter. Experts confirmed that the rupture of the aortic aneurysm was the cause of death. Dorenko received great fame back in the 90s, when he worked on the main Russian television channel ORT. Colleagues called him a bright and talented man, noting that Sergey Leonidovich won hearts with the way he looked and the timbre of his voice. He was fired after a programme about the Kursk submarine, and in September 2000, the presenter personally accused President Putin of the death of sailors. Television ended, it was replaced by radio. In the noughties, Dorenko worked at Echo of Moscow, then he switched to the Russian news service. After being sacked, he briefly returned to us again, and from February 2014, he became the chief editor of Radio Moscow. He presented U-turn and Echo morning shows on other radio stations. Loud greetings became the distinctive feature of these shows. The author's channel of Dorenko on the YouTube and Telegram became very popular.
Sergey Dorenko died on the evening of 9 May, when he was riding a motorcycle in the centre of Moscow. The presenter was returning from Pereslavl-Zalessky, where he visited a close friend. Dorenko was 59 years old. After the farewell ceremony, the body of the presenter was cremated. The decision on burial will be taken by Sergei Yury Dorenko’s widow after she receives an urn with ashes, reports Radio Moscow.
