Achieving Unprecedented Heights: Five Stories of Kurgan Natives Who Became Stars

We see them on screens, we listen to their songs in headphones and at concerts, the media actively discusses events in their lives. All of this is about famous residents of the Kurgan region, whose careers have taken off. 45.RU recalls five stories about stellar natives of our region.

Elena Temnikova

Singer and songwriter Elena Temnikova was born in Kurgan on April 18, 1985. Her father was an ambulance driver, her mother was a baker at a bread factory. From the age of four, Elena played the violin, then mastered the guitar, and participated in various music competitions. She studied at Valery Chigintsev«s vocal studio but never finished music school. Temnikova studied at school No. 38 and attended a karate section.

In 2003, the girl made it to the second season of the show Star Factory, releasing the singles «Farther Than Anyone» and «Secret» on the project. She took third place in the show. Then she participated in the fifth season of the reality show The Last Hero. Soon after, Elena Temnikova signed a contract with producer Maxim Fadeev«s production center.

In 2006, the singer became a member of the female group Serebro. In 2014, Elena Temnikova left Serebro allegedly due to deteriorating health. Since then, she has released several singles and albums, and became an ambassador and strategic partner of leading world brands Tiffany & Co, Coca-Cola Company, L’Oréal, and others.

The last time Temnikova performed was at the Kurgan Regional Philharmonic in 2018. During that trip, the singer visited her childhood yard, approached her apartment building entrance, and even showed where her skull was fractured.

Marina Domozhirova

Actress Marina Domozhirova spent her childhood in Kurgan. Here she studied acting, absorbed the wisdom of her parents, walked in her favorite forests, and gathered mushrooms. Later, Marina played many roles in TV series and films («Univer. New Dorm», «Ambulance», «Sea Devils. Northern Frontiers» and dozens of others).

In an interview for 45.RU, Domozhirova recalled her childhood in Severny and a dacha beyond the Tobol River, where they collected Colorado potato beetles.

«I fondly remember the Palace of Children»s (Youth) Creativity and our family trips to nature. I adore picking mushrooms, and, in my opinion, Moscow doesn«t have such good places as in Kurgan or near Tyumen where one can enjoy this activity. Every time I come to Kurgan in the summer, I try not to break my traditions and обязательно go mushroom picking. I also happily recall trips for fishing and to my grandmother in the village. I love Kurgan very much and am happy to return there,» said the actress.

In 2025, Marina Domozhirova was featured in the series «Unprincipled in St. Petersburg», «Barankins and Stones of Power», «Planetarians», and «Culinary Technical School».

Yuri Galstev

Comedian, actor, singer, and writer Yuri Galstev was born on April 12, 1961 in Kurgan. He was named after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. His father — Nikolai Galstev — managed a reinforced concrete products plant and played musical instruments. His mother — Raisa Galtseva — changed many professions.

Yuri Galstev attended school No. 31. He learned to play the guitar and wrote his first song in the ninth grade. He graduated from a children«s music school in the accordion class. In his childhood, Yuri wanted to become a pilot. After school, he even tried to enter the Tambov Military Aviation School, but an incorrect bite prevented him (it was inconvenient to hold an oxygen tube in his mouth). He was not accepted into the Kurgan Aviation School or the Chelyabinsk Tank School. He had to study automotive engineering at the Kurgan Machine-Building Institute. As a student, he headed an agitprop theater and performed with the VIA »Trouvers«.

In 1988, he graduated from the Leningrad State Institute of Theater, where he met Gennady Vetrov, Nikolai Fomenko, and Sergei Selin. In 1999, he organized his own «UTYuG», i.e., the Universal Theater of Yuri Galstev. His unique facial expressions earned him the title «Rubber Face» at a clown festival in France in 1995.

In 2003, Galstev received the title of Honored Artist of Russia. In 2008, he became the artistic director of the State Variety Theater named after A. I. Raikin in the Northern Capital (St. Petersburg) and remains so to this day. The artist has dozens of TV shows, series, and films to his credit. Yuri Galstev returns to Kurgan every year and holds the «Midsummer» arts festival (0+).

Maxim Fadeev

Maxim Fadeev was born on May 6, 1968 in Kurgan, lived in the Energitiki district, and studied at school No. 40. His father, Alexander Ivanovich, worked as a deputy director at a music college (now the Kurgan Regional Music College named after D. D. Shostakovich), and his mother, Svetlana Petrovna, sang romances and directed a choir at the Builders« Palace of Culture (now the KC »Academy«).

Maxim Fadeev began studying music at the age of five. First, he attended a school at the music college, and then, at 15, he entered the conducting-choral and piano departments. He played bass guitar and acoustic guitar. He also developed in sports, attending boxing and aikido sections (almost secretly from his parents). At 17, Maxim, who was born with a heart defect, went from the gym to intensive care and experienced clinical death. After that, he wanted to write songs and develop in the music sphere. His first song was «Dance on Broken Glass».

In 1993, Fadeev met showman Sergei Krylov, received an invitation to move to Moscow and work in a recording studio. He made arrangements for Larisa Dolina, Valery Leontiev, and Vyacheslav Malezhik. In the 2000s, Fadeev produced Star Factory and created the trio Serebro with the aforementioned Elena Temnikova. In the 2010s, the producer was a mentor in the Channel One music show The Voice. Kids together with Pelageya and Dima Bilan.

In 2019, Maxim Fadeev told how he lost his hearing and partially regained it thanks to the help of a Chinese doctor. In the summer of 2025, an impressive concert by Fadeev took place on Kurgan«s city day. The musician sang without a fee.

Yulia Savicheva

Yulia Savicheva was born on February 14, 1987 in Kurgan. She first appeared on stage at the age of four at the Kurgan Regional Philharmonic. At five, she was a soloist in the choreographic group «Firefly». When the girl was seven, the family moved to Moscow. Her mother Svetlana headed the children«s department at the House of Culture of the Moscow Aviation Institute, her father Stanislav was in charge of drums in the rock group »Convoy«, and their daughter went to school and practiced in the choreographic group »Zhuravushka«. At the age of seven, Yulia starred in a video for Linda (Svetlana Geiman) for the song »Make It So« and participated in the recording of the album »Crow«.

When the girl was 16, she got into the show Star Factory — 2 (producer — Maxim Fadeev) and made it to the top five finalists. First place was taken by Polina Gagarina, second and third were Elena Terleeva and Elena Temnikova (also a native of Kurgan). For the song «High» performed on the project, Yulia Savicheva received the «Golden Gramophone» award.

In the spring of 2005, Yulia Savicheva released her first album — «High». Soon the artist released the song «If Love Lives in the Heart», which became the theme song for the series Don«t Be Born Beautiful (12+). Later, the singer released several albums and starred in the film First Love (12+).

The last time Savicheva came to Kurgan was in May 2021. She saw her parents and met with her cousin. The artist noted that the city had become better: the Central Park of Culture and Leisure had been transformed, children«s playgrounds appeared, and the streets were cleaner.

In recent months, Yulia Savicheva has been actively experimenting with sound — concerts are filled with a rock atmosphere, listeners are taken back to the 2000s (the times of «pirate stations») when they hear drum and bass motifs in the track «Synonym for Pain».

Earlier, 45.RU reported that stars of music, film, and theater think about Kurgan.