The Kherson conductor was assassinated in his home for refusing to cooperate with the Russian occupiers.

Ministry of Culture Ukraine Condemned the murder The conductor of the Kherson Philharmonic Orchestra is Yuri Kerpatenkofor refusing to cooperate with Russian troops stationed in that annexed territory.

According to random information from the Ukrainian media, Kerpatenko was executed by Russian soldiers at his home on Saturday.

And pro-Russian authorities in Kherson, north of the annexed Crimean peninsula, organized a concert on October 1 to celebrate the “restoration of peace” in the region. Kerbatenko, the Philharmonic’s chief conductor since 2004, has flatly refused to cooperate with the concert, as well as to leave the city, which was recently annexed by Russia.

News of the orchestra conductor’s execution has been followed by condemnations from European governments such as Germany, whose Culture Minister Claudia Roth has expressed her astonishment at the motives of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his executioners. “Destroying Ukrainian Culture and Identity.”

Yuri Kerbatenko, who has been a vocal critic of Russian aggression on his Facebook wall, has worked at the Kherson Regional Philharmonic since 2000. In 2004, he became the chief director and principal of the regional music and theater theater named after Mykola Kulish. Conductor of Kilia Chamber Orchestra.

in detail GuardianUkrainian authorities have launched a formal investigation “on grounds of deliberate killing, based on violations of the laws and customs of war.”

Condemnation of Ukrainian and international artists was not long in coming. “Russia’s history of imposing a ‘do or die’ policy against artists is not new. It goes back hundreds of years,” he said. Finnish-Ukrainian conductor Dalia Stasevska, who was due to headline the Last Night of the Proms at London’s Albert Hall last month, which was canceled due to the Queen’s death.

“I saw a lot of silence from Russian colleagues,” he said. “Is it time for Russian musicians, especially those living and working abroad, to finally step up and take a stand against the actions of the Russian regime in Ukraine?”

A fortnight ago, Stachewska drove a humanitarian supply truck from her home in Finland to Lviv before leading the INSO-Lviv Orchestra in a concert of contemporary Ukrainian music.

“We know that the Russian regime persecutes activists, journalists, artists, community leaders and anyone willing to resist the occupation,” said award-winning N.Ukrainian novelist Viktoria Amelina turned war crimes investigator. “However, knowing the current system and history, we should not get used to hearing about the brutal murders of a smart, talented and brave people whose only mistake was being Ukrainian.”

The novelist drew a parallel between Kerbatenko and the Ukrainian playwright Mykola Kulysh, who gave his name to the theater where the director worked. “Kulish was shot on November 3, 1937 near Chandermok along with 289 Ukrainian writers, artists and intellectuals. “Yuri Kerbatenko was shot in his home in Kherson in October 2022,” he said.

He said the actions of the Russians were “pure genocide”. Conductor Semyon Bychkov is from Paris, where he served as music director of the Czech Philharmonic.. Born in St. Petersburg, the conductor left Russia as a teenager in the 1970s.

“The sad irony of this is that it speaks to the superiority of Russian culture, its humanity,” he said. “Here they have killed someone who really brings beauty to people’s lives. It’s disgusting”. “Guns don’t make people different. It didn’t make me feel bad that this man was a conductor, but it confirmed the evil that was going on in Ukraine even before the first bombs fell.

Novelist Andrey Gurkovthe author of “Death and Penguin” said: “Now the name of Yuri Kerbatenko will be added to the list of murdered Ukrainian artists. I think that Russia not only wants to occupy Ukrainian territories, but is diligently destroying Ukrainian identity, an important part of which is Ukrainian culture.

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