The director of the Kherson Philharmonic, the Ukrainian Yuri Kerpatenko, has been executed by Russian soldiers after he refused to participate in a concert organized by the occupying forces. This has been stated by sources from the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, which has denounced through its social networks "the brutal murder" for which it was also responsible for the Music and Drama Theater of the city. "Kerpatenko openly showed his civic position and refused to leave the occupied Kherson," the ministry said.
According to consistent information from the Ukrainian media, Kerpatenko was executed at his home by Russian soldiers on Saturday. The pro-Russian authorities of Kherson, north of the also annexed Crimean peninsula, organized a concert on October 1 to celebrate the "restoration of peace" in the region.
Kerpatenko, who since 2004 was chief conductor of the Philharmonic, categorically refused to collaborate in that concert, as well as to leave the city recently annexed by Russia.
The news of the presumed execution of the orchestra conductor has been followed by the condemnations of European governments, such as Germany, whose Minister of Culture, Claudia Roth, has expressed her astonishment at the intention of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, "and his executioners" of "destroy Ukrainian culture and identity
