Volodymyr Ivasyuk

Ivasyuk’s funeral was attended by over 10,000 people. After his death his compositions were removed for a time from sale and radio play. In June 2019 a new official Forensic examination concluded that Ivasyuk could not have hanged himself without the help of someone else.

In 2015 former Nohinska street in Dnipro was renamed to Volodymyr Ivasiuk street.

Ivasyuk is buried at Lychakivskiy Cemetery. Among his legacy was the first Soviet rock-opera, whose scenario and songs were specifically written for performance by Sofia Rotaru. In 2009, President Victor Yushchenko awarded Ivasyuk the Hero of Ukraine medal posthumously.

On 24 April 1979, after finishing a phone call, he was scheduled to meet someone at the Lviv conservatory. He never got there nor did he report for duty as a doctor. 3 days later, his parents and older sister reported him missing to the police. An investigation follows, until the Lviv district attorney put a temporary pause on the search.

He became an overnight national sensation in the Soviet Union, after a public performance on 13 September 1970 of his compositions "Chervona Ruta" (Ukrainian for 'Red Rue') and "Vodohray" with Olena Kuznetsova. In 1971 his "Chervona Ruta", performed live in Moscow with Vasyliy Zinkevych and Nazary Yaremchuk, and won the Best Song of the Year award of the Soviet Union. His composition "Vodohray" won the best song award the next year as well. "Chervona Ruta", sung by Sofia Rotaru, was featured in the musical-film Chervona Ruta.

Volodymyr Mykhailovych Ivasyuk or Volodymyr Ivasiuk (Ukrainian: Володи́мир Миха́йлович Івасю́к) (4 March 1949 – 24–27 April 1979) was a Ukrainian songwriter, composer and poet. He is the author and composer of the widely popular song "Chervona Ruta" popularized by Sofia Rotaru in 1971, and later covered by other singers.

Ivasyuk was born in Kitsman, Chernivtsi Oblast. His father Mykhaylo Ivasyuk was a well-known writer from Bukovyna. His mother Sofiya Ivasyuk, from Zaporizhzhia Oblast, was a teacher in a local school. He had two sisters, Halyna (b. 1944) and Oksana (b. 1960). As early as the age of five, Volodymyr began learning to play the violin at a music school. Later, he learnt to play the piano as well. In 1964 he created an ensemble - "Bukovyna" - in his school and wrote their first songs, the first of which was "Lullaby".