To Comrade Korneychuk.

I am sending you for your information Comrade Timoshenko's telegram and my reply. The style of Comrade Timoshenko's telegram has been preserved in full.

Greetings!

I. Stalin

Glasnost. 1991. July 11-17.

Note

A.E. Korneychuk replied to Stalin with a letter:

"Dear Iosif Vissarionovich! I heartily thank you for your attention.

I have read the telegram and your reply. As far as I understand, Comrade Timoshenko demands that I be put on trial for the play. This is not yet so terrible, since unknown 'noble' readers are giving me a solemn promise by telephone that they will definitely break my bones. I live in hope that they will not fall upon me all together, but one by one. With God's help I will endure. The Zaporozhian spirit has not yet died out among us.

With deep respect,

Alexander Korneychuk."

In 1943 in Alma-Ata, a feature film of the same name based on Korneychuk's play was made by the Vasilyev brothers, with B. Zhukovsky, B. Babochkin, N. Kryuchkov, and B. Chirkov in the leading roles.