Comedian Valery Ponomarenko was urgently hospitalized: how his twin brother died of cancer

Comedian and participant in the TV show “Crooked Mirror” Valeria Ponomarenko was unexpectedly taken to the hospital. This information was disseminated by the press service of the Palace of Culture named after M.I. Kalinin.

“Due to the emergency hospitalization of Valeria Ponomarenko, changes have occurred in the concert program: solo performances by Nikolai Bandurin will take place,” the organizers of the performance reported on the VKontakte social network. Details about the reasons for the star’s hospitalization have not been disclosed.

Valery Ponomarenko was born in 1967. He became famous for his participation in various comedy television programs, including the shows “Distorted Mirror” and “Repeat!” Together with his twin brother Alexander Ponomarenko, he became a real star.

In the early 2000s, the Ponomarenko brothers hosted the TV-Bingo-Show lottery on Channel 2, and from 2006 to 2019 they were the permanent hosts of the Morning Mail program on Rossiya. In 2014, Alexander Ponomarenko became a participant in the parody show “Variety Theater”. Both brothers were laureates of the International Competition “Cup of Humor-99” and the festival of satire and humor “Golden Ostap-2001”. It would seem that there are still so many years of creativity ahead. The brothers made plans and dreamed of new concert tours.

But cancer intervened. In the summer of 2021, Alexander unexpectedly felt unwell after filming the program, and had to call an ambulance. The actor was put to sleep with anesthesia and underwent surgery for a stomach ulcer. And already in Rostov-on-Don, histology showed stomach cancer.

Initially, only the comedian’s wife knew about the fatal diagnosis. Chemotherapy courses began. The first ten didn’t help. Then the intensity increased, and the consequences did not fail to affect. Alexander recalled that body pain and swelling of the limbs began. I had to save my leg. Alexander could only eat liquid food – like an astronaut. In a year and a half, the actor lost 20 kg.

Despite his terrible condition, Alexander dreamed of returning to the stage, insisting that he was fighting the disease not only for the sake of his family, but also for his beloved audience. His wife Anna also believed that they would be able to defeat cancer.

Treatment required enormous expenses. At the beginning of December 2022, Valery Ponomarenko said that the procedures cost 1 million rubles and there was a catastrophic lack of money for his brother. The actor’s colleagues from “Distorted Mirror” and other programs tried to help, collecting as much as they could.

On December 24, 2022, Alexander Ponomarenko passed away at the age of 55. He was buried in the city cemetery of Novocherkassk – not far from his father.