Hero of Ukraine, famous baritone Dmytro Hnatyuk has passed away aged 91, the Internet portal of the Day newspaper reported with reference to Rector of the National Music Academy of Ukraine Volodymyr Rozhok.

"Grave news about the death of honored opera singer, stage director, pedagogue, Hero of Ukraine was reported to the Day newspaper by Rector of the National Music Academy of Ukraine Volodymyr Rozhok. Last year, we celebrated in the academy the 90th anniversary of the famous baritone. In spite of the fact that 2016 was very complicated for Dmytro Mykhailovych, he fearlessly struggled against his illness. The death of the artist is a grievous loss for art of our country, and his name has been inscribed in the golden treasury house of the national culture," reads the report posted on the website on Friday.

Hnatyuk will be lying in repose in the National Opera of Ukraine from 1100 to 1300 on May 4. The singer will be buried at the Baikove Cemetery in Kyiv.

Hnatyuk was Soviet and Ukrainian opera and chamber singer (baritone), stage director, pedagogue, he was granted the titles of the Honored Artist of the USSR in 1960 and the Hero of Ukraine in 2005.

He performed on stage as a concert singer, toured Hungary, the U.S., Canada, Russia, Portugal and Germany.