Vera Brezhneva

Vera Brezhneva
Вера Брежнева
Brezhneva in 2017
Born	Vira Viktorivna Halushka (Віра Вікторівна Галушка) (1982-02-03) 3 February 1982 (age 43) Dniprodzerzhynsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Citizenship	Ukraine
Alma mater	Dnipro Institute of Infrastructure and Transport
Occupations	Singer television presenter actress
Years active	2003-present
Spouses	Vitaliy Voychenko ​ ​ (m. 2000; div. 2002)​ Mikhail Kiperman ​ ​ (m. 2006; div. 2012)​ Konstantin Meladze ​ ​ (m. 2015; div. 2023)​
Children	2
Musical career
Genres	Pop
Instrument	Vocals
Labels	Velvet Moon Monolit Misteriya Zvuka Pervoye Muzykalnoye
Formerly of	Nu Virgos
Musical artist
Website	brezhneva.com

Vira Viktorivna Halushka (Ukrainian: Віра Вікторівна Галушка; Russian: Вера Викторовна Галушка; born 3 February 1982), known professionally as Vera Brezhneva (Вера Брежнева), is a Ukrainian singer, television presenter, and actress.^[1]

During her career, she achieved international success in Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries,^[2][3] and is a winner of ZD Awards.^[4] In 2016, she received the International Music Prize "Big Apple Music Awards" in the category "Best Eastern European Artist" and special award for charitable activities "Person" in New York City.^[5] She has performed several times at the Laima Rendezvous music festival in the Latvian city of Jurmala.^[6][7] Brezhneva is also a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.^[8]

Vera Brezhneva was born on 3 February 1982 in Dniprodzerzhynsk, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union.^[1] Her father, Viktor, worked in a chemical factory. Her mother, Tamara, a medical school graduate, worked in the same factory as Brezhneva's father.^[9][10] She has three sisters;^[1] one older sister named Halyna, and younger twins Nastya and Vika. She bought a flat for her parents in Boryspil, a town close to Kyiv. The father of Brezhneva's daughter, Sonia, is Vitaliy Voychenko, to whom Brezhneva was married for a few years.^[11] She earned a degree by correspondence from the faculty of economics of the Dnipropetrovsk Institute of Railway Engineering.^[1]

In 2002, Brezhneva was invited to a casting organised to find a girl to replace Alena Vinnitskaya in the group Nu Virgos, in which she succeeded. In January 2003, Nu Virgos started performing in the new lineup; Nadiya, Anna and Vera, that, due to its massive popularity, gained the name of "the golden line up".

In July 2007, Brezhneva decided to take a break from the band. In December 2007, an official announcement was made stating that she was leaving Nu Virgos.^[12] She was then replaced in the group by Tatiana Kotova.

Brezhneva was the presenter of the Russian version of the Power of 10 game-show called Магия 10-ти (lit. Magic of 10), which ran on Channel One Russia for two seasons from 7 January 2008 to 31 August 2008.^[13]

In May 2008, Brezhneva premiered her first single called "Ya ne igrayu" (Я не играю; I Don't Play). The song was written by her former producer Konstantin Meladze. The second single "Nirvana" was released on 27 October 2008. The third single "Ljubov v bolshom gorode" (Любовь в большом городе; Love in the Big City) was released in 2009. She then appeared in the music video for the song "Leto vsegda" (Лето всегда; Summer always) by the group Diskoteka Avariya, with actresses Anastasia Zadorozhnaya & Svetlana Khodchenkova. The fourth single was released in April; "Ljubov spasyot mir" (Любовь спасёт мир; Love will Save the World) and reached No. 1 in Russian Airplay Weekly. The next single "Pronto", a duet with Potap was released in September. Her sixth single "Lepestkami slyoz" (Лепестками слез; Petal Tears) was a duet with Dan Balan. In early 2011, Brezhneva premiered her new single "Realnaya zhizn" (Реальная жизнь; Real Life), and the single "Sexy Bambina" at the end of that year. In early 2012, the single "Ishu tebya" (Ищу тебя; Searching for You) was released.

After the Russo-Ukrainian War broke out in 2014, Brezhneva continued her career in Russia.^[14] By 2022, however, owing to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she expressed her support for Ukraine and broke away from her Russian career.^[14] In 2023, she divorced her husband Konstantin Meladze, to whom she had been married since 2015, allegedly over her disapproval of his continued work in the Russian real estate and music markets.^[14] While residing in the Latvian city of Riga, Brezhneva has returned to Ukraine a number of times since the invasion began,^[15] and has shifted her career towards releasing her first songs in the Ukrainian language; in October 2022 and in September 2023.^[16]

Brezhneva has appeared in numerous Russian-language films. She played Katya in the film Love in the Big City (Любовь в большом городе) in 2009, and its two sequels in 2010 and 2013. In 2016, she starred in 8 Best Dates. She also had a major part playing as herself in Yolki (Ёлки) and Yolki 2, and also appeared in Jungle (Джунгли). Most of her film work has been in romantic comedies.

She appeared in the second season of Russian ice show contest Ice Age.

Brezhneva has two daughters: Sonya, from her first marriage to Vitaliy Voychenko; and Sara, from her second marriage to Mykhailo Kiperman.^[14]

Studio albums

• Lyubov spasyot mir (2010)
• VERVERA (2015)

• V. (2020)

Vera Brezhneva received the title "Woman of the Year" from Glamour Russia in 2010.^[17] In 2007, 2012, 2015, and 2016 she was named the sexiest woman in Russia by the men's magazine Maxim.^[18][19]

• Official website
• Vera Brezhneva on Twitter