Russian military shot Kherson conductor Yuriy Kerpatenko in his own house for refusing to cooperate with the occupiers, according to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

"On October 14, it became known about the brutal murder of the chief conductor of the Kherson Music and Drama Theater named after Mykola Kulish. After Yuriy Kerpatenko refused to cooperate with the occupiers, the Russian military shot him dead in his own house," the ministry said on Facebook.

Kerpatenko has been working in the Kherson Regional Philharmonic since 2000. In 2004, he became the chief conductor of the Mykola Kulish Kherson Music and Drama Theater. He acted as the chief conductor of the Gilea chamber orchestra. Kerpatenko openly showed his civic position and refused to leave occupied Kherson.

According to the Kherson.online website, by October 1, International Music Day, the occupiers, together with collaborators at the Philharmonic, planned a festive concert in Kherson with the participation of the Hylaeus chamber orchestra. However, the conductor of the orchestra, Kerpatenko, flatly refused to cooperate with the invaders.

"We express our deepest condolences to Yuryi's relatives and colleagues. Eternal memory," the Ministry of Culture said.