Petro Velykyi, an actor of the Chernihiv Oblast Academic Music and Drama Theater named after Taras Shevchenko, was killed at the front, the theater informed.

"Petro Velykyi is aut in scuto [Latin for "on the shield", i.e. killed in action]... For you, [he was] Holokhvastov. Eric. Judas. Bernard… For us, he is a father, an actor, a friend, a warrior, a Hero," said the theater's statement.

The director of the theater Oleksandr Maishev wrote: "The Hero Petro Velykyi is aut in scuto. A great actor of the Chernihiv Oblast Academic Music and Drama Theater named after Taras Shevchenko. Our Velykyi (a pun intended, obviously: in Ukrainian, Velykyi means "Great" – ed.)… [so much] pain…"

Maishev also called for help for the daughter of the deceased Petro Velykyi, who is also an actress at the theatre.