Artyom Datsishin death: Ukrainian ballet star succumbs to injuries from Russian shelling, aged 43

Ballet dancer’s friends and colleagues have expressed their ‘unbearable pain’

Ukrainian ballet star Artyom Datsishin has died three weeks after he sustained injuries from Russian shellings in Kyiv. He was 43.

Datsishin’s death was announced by his friend Tatiana Borokiv, who shared her grief in a post on Facebook.

“May your memory be bright,” she wrote.

The internationally renowned dancer was a former soloist at the National Opera of Ukraine, where he performed the lead in The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty.

His death has sparked anger in the arts world. According to the Evening Standard, Russian-American choreographer Alexei Ratmansky is “furious” over the loss and described his “unbearable pain”.

Anatoly Solovyanenko, chief stage director at the National Opera of Ukraine, called Datsishin “a beautiful artist” and “a wonderful man” in a Facebook post.

Datsishin’s death follows that of Ukrainian actor, Oksana Shvets, who died aged 67 in a Russian rocket attack.

Read updates on the Russia-Ukraine conflict here.

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