MOSCOW, December 27. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent his condolences to the family of prominent Russian theater director Galina Volchek, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 86.

"Galina Borisovna Volchek was a uniquely talented person with a generous soul. She was a real hard worker and a creator. She was loved by millions of people for her wonderful cinematic works, her remarkable charm and kindness, and, of course, for her creative boldness and commitment to her ideals, for her loyalty to the principles of high art in her years of work at the legendary Sovremennik Theater, to which she dedicated her whole life," Putin wrote in a telegram published on the Kremlin website on Friday.

"The death of Galina Borisovna Volchek is a huge, incalculable loss for all of us, for Russian culture, for the theater and for her numerous pupils, who will carry on her work," Putin stated.

Volchek passed away on December 26 at the age of 86.

The prominent Russian theater director and actress was born on 19 December 1933 in Moscow. In 1955, she graduated from the Moscow Art Theater School. Together with several other actors, she co-founded the Sovremennik Theater in Moscow. She made her debut as a theater director in 1962. In 1972, she became the chief director of the Sovremennik Theater.