# Vera Brezhneva

Vira Viktorivna Halushka (Ukrainian: Віра Вікторівна Галушка; Russian: Вера Викторовна Галушка, romanized: Vera Viktorovna Galushka; born 3 February 1982), better known by her stage name Vera Brezhneva (Russian: Вера Брежнева), is a Ukrainian singer, television presenter and actress.
During her career she achieved international success in Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries. Winner of ZD Awards. In 2016 she received the International Music Prize “Big Apple Music Awards” in the category “Best Eastern European Artist”, as well as a special award for charitable activities “Person” in New York. She performed several times at the Laima Rendezvous music festival in Jurmala, Latvia.
She is a UN Goodwill Ambassador.

## Early life

Vera Brezhneva was born on 3 February 1982 in Dniprodzerzhynsk, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. Her father, Viktor, worked in a chemical factory. Her mother, Tamara, a medical school graduate, worked in the same factory as Brezhneva's father. She has three sisters; 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. She earned a degree by correspondence from the faculty of economics of the Dnipropetrovsk Institute of Railway Engineering.

## Career
### 2002–2007: Nu Virgos (also known as "VIA Gra")

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. She was then replaced in the group by Tatiana Kotova.

### 2008–2012: TV presenting and return to music

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.
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.

### 2022 and recent years: Career in Russia and break with Russia

Brezhneva continued her careers in Russia after the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine she expressed her support for Ukraine and left Russia. Brezhneva also divorced Konstantin Meladze, to whom she had been married since 2015. She moved to Riga, Latvia; Brezhneva returned to Ukraine a couple of times during the war. Brezhneva also started to release her first songs in the Ukrainian language; in October 2022 and in September 2023.
Brezhneva continues to raise her two daughters— Sonya, from her first marriage to Vitaliy Voychenko, and Sara, from her second marriage to Mykhailo Kiperman.

### Films

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.

### Television

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

## Discography
### Singles

| Year | Single | English translation | Chart Positions | Chart Positions |
| Year | Single | English translation | Ukraine | Russia |
| 2008 | "Я не играю" | I don't play | — | 6 |
| 2008 | "Нирвана" | Nirvana | — | 80 |
| 2009 | "Любовь в большом городе" | Love in the big city | — | 19 |
| 2010 | "Любовь спасёт мир" | Love will save the world | 1 | 1 |
| 2010 | "Пронто" (with Potap) | Pronto | — | 31 |
| 2010 | "Лепестками слез" (with Dan Balan) | By the petals of tears | 1 | 1 |
| 2011 | "Реальная жизнь" | Real life | 1 | 1 |
| 2012 | "Sexy Bambina" | | 1 | — |
| 2012 | "Бессонница" | Insomnia | 6 | 20 |
| 2012 | "Ищу тебя" | I am looking for you | 7 | — |
| 2012 | "Любовь на расстоянии" (feat. DJ Smash) | Love from a distance | 48 | 14 |
| 2013 | "Хороший день" | Nice day | 2 | 11 |
| 2013 | "Дом" | Home | — | — |
| 2014 | "Доброе утро" | Good morning | 1 | 12 |
| 2014 | "Luna"(feat. Aleksandr Revva) | Luna | 142 | — |
| 2014 | "Девочка моя" | My girl | — | — |
| 2015 | "Мамочка" | Mommy | 15 | — |
| 2015 | "Этажи"(feat. T-killah) | Floors | — | — |
| 2016 | "Номер 1" | Number 1 | 16 | — |
| 2016 | "Feel" | Feel | 854 | — |
| 2017 | "Близкие люди" | Close people | — | — |

### Albums

Studio albums
* Lyubov spasyot mir (2010)
* VERVERA (2015)

### EP

* V. (2020)

## Awards

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