Russians Murder Kherson's Head Conductor 'He Would Not play in Their Festival'

Conductor Yurii Kerpatenko, who led orchestras at the Mykola Kulish Kherson Regional Academic Music and Drama Theater,

 

By Megan Specia

The New York Times

 

KYIV, Ukraine — The head conductor of Kherson’s top theater was killed in his home by Russian forces, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture, in what appeared to be the latest instance of Russian forces targeting dissenters in the occupied southern city.

The conductor, Yurii Kerpatenko, who led orchestras at the Mykola Kulish Kherson Regional Academic Music and Drama Theater, was fatally shot after he refused to take part in an online day of music organized by Russian-backed local officials, Ukraine’s culture ministry said in a statement posted on Facebook on Saturday.

The statement did not say when exactly Mr. Kerpatenko had been killed, only that the news was known on Friday.

The city of Kherson, on the west bank of the Dnipro River, was the first to fall in Russia’s invasion. It is the only regional capital in Ukraine that is held by Russian forces. Ukrainian forces have been moving toward the city in recent weeks in an attempt to retake the region, placing the Russian troops and local officials under pressure. 

Earlier this week, the Russian-installed leader of the Kherson region, Volodymyr Saldo, urged civilians to evacuate, a move that Ukrainian officials called a sign of panic as Kyiv’s forces continued their biggest advance in the south since the war began.

Yaroslav Yanushevich, the head of the Kherson regional military administration, said that Russian troops had shot the conductor in his own home “because of the man’s refusal to cooperate with the enemy.” He added that the regional prosecutor’s office was investigating the killing.

It would not be the first time that someone in Kherson’s arts community had been targeted by Russian soldiers. In March, Oleksandr Knyga, a prominent director of the same theater where Mr. Kerpatenko worked, was kidnapped by Russian soldiers, before being released a short time later.

The mayor of Kherson, Ihor Kolykhaev, was arrested in June, and a number of other residents and officials have been detained after speaking out against the Russian occupation. Mr. Kolykhaev had been posting regular updates on social media and had given interviews to Western journalists from the city.