Officials and colleagues attend Sergei Trofimov's funeral in Volgograd

The funeral of Sergei Trofimov, one of the region«s most prominent journalists and a former ITAR-TASS correspondent and assistant to Volgograd Oblast Governor Nikolai Maksyuta, was held on 8 November.

The farewell was held at Dimitrovskoye Cemetery, where about a hundred people gathered: representatives from various media outlets, press services, as well as political structures and various departments.

«Today we are seeing off Sergei Petrovich Trofimov on his final journey — a man whose name will forever remain in the history of Volgograd journalism and Volgograd Oblast,» such words were heard during the official part of the farewell. «His departure is an irreplaceable loss for his family, the city, the region, and the profession he loved and to which he dedicated his entire life. Sergei Trofimov was not just a journalist, not just a chronicler of the era, he was at the heart of pivotal events in the country and honestly and objectively reported what he saw himself, he told the truth.»

Born into a military family, Sergei Trofimov himself served in the border troops. It was then that he became interested in journalism. After graduating from the journalism faculty in Moscow and working in Dushanbe, Sergei Trofimov became a correspondent for TASS. In the late 1990s, he worked as a war correspondent in hot spots, where he spent 500 days.

«And in reports from peaceful civilian life, Sergei Trofimov remained true to himself: he wrote frankly, deeply, strictly adhering to facts,» was said in the farewell speech. «No one like Sergei Petrovich could tackle sharp topics, ask uncomfortable questions, conduct journalistic investigations, seek and find the truth. Respect for Sergei Trofimov«s personality and authority was unprecedented, because everyone understood: he works not for his own glory, he works for the people. Despite all his uncompromising and even harsh character, Petrovich — as his friends and comrades called him — was a mentor and moral guide for many young colleagues, an example of the highest journalistic skill.»

At the farewell, a speech was given by former chairman of the Volgograd Oblast Duma Vladimir Yefimov.

«Each of us had our own years of friendship and relations with Petrovich, conversations in a terribly smoky office on various topics. I was always amazed by the depth of his knowledge and understanding of all processes. We had the opportunity to collaborate in very difficult years for our region, and his sharp pen, Petrovich«s tool, often saved us from various situations.»

After the farewell, a funeral service was held at the Church of Holy Martyr Joseph of Astrakhan, where the closest relatives were present. The sun peeked out slightly from behind the clouds but immediately hid again.

«We have known each other for almost half a century — since Dushanbe,» shared journalist Anatoly Lyubimenko. «He really said what he thought. He brought me back to journalism. When I worked with him at the news agency, the main feeling was that we were doing important and good work. And that is very important for a journalist — to believe in what you are doing and the ability to say and write what you think. This period of life is one of the best in my biography thanks to Sergei. He steered the ship clearly and knew how to cut, how to be tough, and how to support in life. He helped me purely humanly with my father. Even when we later had professional problems, we remained friends because he could separate one from the other — for me that was always very valuable. We started working in different places, but we were friends: he visited me at the dacha, we traveled together to friends from Dushanbe, we kept in touch all the time — not often, but we met.»

Former co-founder of the news agency and ex-deputy of the oblast duma Alexander Osipov did not come to the funeral, but in a conversation with a V1.RU correspondent, he recalled many years of joint work and friendship with Sergei Trofimov.

«He is a man of his era, who found himself in very difficult places, in hot spots, in service to the state, preserved his courage and civic position, worked, devoting himself to it entirely. He worked at TASS, traveled to Chechnya, even got into combat scrapes, remaining himself, for which he was awarded. Later, he willingly engaged with me and other colleagues in journalistic investigations, anti-corruption crimes. Our agency became a response to the fact that no media wanted to publish our investigations anymore, and we had to create our own information platform. In this regard, Sergei was a colossal professional: the TASS school gave us a model of work in an agency of a new type at that time.»

Alexander Osipov admitted that work did not come easily to Sergei Trofimov, as it might have seemed from the outside.

«The information that Sergei obtained and we published under our own responsibility came to him very hard: it was worries, it was a heart attack, it was very poor health, undermined by combat assignments. He constantly had to overcome his ailments, civilian wounds. He really loved always being up to date, in the topic. He literally fed on information — it was his only passion. He came to work at 5 a.m., sat until evening, обязательно called everyone, did not make allowances for his age — it was incomprehensible to younger people. But he didn«t know any other way. It was his life. Losing this work, he lost some part of himself, the meaning of life, I think. I believe if he had continued his activities, he might have lived longer.»

«He was not simple, not very compliant. We did not always find common ground, but when we did, it was good, it was right. He supported my initiatives, and I — his, so our work was very productive. I don«t want banal phrases, banal condolences, because Sergei will be appreciated later. Time must pass, you can»t see a person«s influence, their personality, face to face. I can evaluate him as a professional. And in his personal life, he was a modest person, loved his dog, walked with his granddaughter, and that gave him pleasure. But all the rest of the time it was work. Such people — work people, workaholics, who dedicate themselves completely to their craft. There are not many like that, but they exist.»

The funeral concluded at Motornoye Cemetery in the Dzerzhinsky District. At the burial, the closest remained: colleagues, friends, family members. Sergei Trofimov«s grave was covered in flowers and wreaths, and the sun came out in the sky.