MADRID, 16 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Ukrainian authorities have denounced the “brutal murder” of Jerson Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Yurii Kerpatenko for refusing to cooperate with pro-Russian authorities.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Culture has reported that “Russian soldiers shot him in his own home after refusing to collaborate with the occupants” and cites journalist Olena Vanina as a source.
Kerpatenko worked at the Jerson Regional Philharmonic Orchestra since 2000 and since 2004 he was the director of the Jerson Nikola Kulish Dramatic Theater and Musical Theatre. In addition he was the acting conductor of the Gilea Chamber Orchestra.
“Yurii Kerpatenko openly manifested his civic stance and refused to abandon the Jerson region because of the occupation,” according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture.
The Kherson.online portal explains that with a view to October 1, International Music Day, the Russian forces and the pro-Russian authorities prepared a concert and had Kerpatenko’s Gilea Chamber Orchestra for it.
With this concert they sought to demonstrate that normality had returned, to test the “recovery of peaceful life” in Kherson, but the director, Kerpatenko, refused to participate, the Ministry reports. “We express our sincere condolences to Yurii’s family and colleagues,” the Ministry said.
The Jerson Regional Prosecutor’s Office has reported that it has already opened proceedings for war crimes and attempted murder. “Representatives of the aggressor country shot the conductor of the Regional Philharmonic Orchestra in his own home, in the city of Jerson because he refused to cooperate with them,” the Prosecutor’s Office has indicated, according to the Ukrainian press gathered.
The investigation indicates that the occupants tried to persuade him to cooperate with threats. The Ukrainian secret services (SBU) have taken over the investigation.
Ukrainian media say that a friend and colleague of Kerpatenko, Terentii Shevchenko, has claimed that the Russian military shot him through the door of his own house when he refused to open it.
