Highly honored Ukrainian stage and screen actress Oksana Shvets was killed in a Russian rocket attack on a residential building in Kyiv. Her troupe, the Young Theater, announced her death on Facebook on March 17. “Irreparable grief in the family of Young Theater,†the group wrote, per Variety’s translation of the Ukrainian post. “Bright memory to the talented actress. There is no forgiveness for the enemy that has come to our land.†The Kyiv Post also confirmed the news of Shvets’s death on Twitter. She was 67.
Born in 1955, Shvets studied theater at the Ivan Franko Theater and the Kiev State Institute of Theater Arts. She performed with the Ternopil Music and Drama Theater and the Kyiv Theater of Satire, in addition to the Young Theater. Her decades-long career onstage eventually earned her one of Ukraine’s most prestigious performing-arts honors, the Merited Artist of Ukraine award, which is presented by the country’s government. Beyond theater, Shvets also starred in several Ukrainian films, including Tomorrow Will Be Tomorrow, The Secret of St. Patrick, and The Return of Mukhtar, as well as the TV show House With Lilies.
Next Thursday will mark a month since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, has seen rising numbers of civilian deaths as Russia increases its shelling on large cities. Last week, journalists Pierre Zakrezewski and Oleksandra Kuvshynova were killed by incoming fire while reporting near Kyiv.