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Vasily Slipak: world-famous Ukrainian opera singer killed by Russian sniper

Vasyl Yaroslavovich Slipak is a Ukrainian baritone opera singer. He had often performed in France at the Paris Opera and the Opéra Bastille since 1994. He was killed during the war by a Russian sniper. He was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine and the Order of the Golden Star.

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Vasyl Yaroslavovych Slipak (Ukrainian: Василь Ярославович Сліпак, 20 December 1974 – 29 June 2016) was a Ukrainian baritone opera singer. From 1994 he frequently performed in France at such venues as Paris Opera and Opéra Bastille. For his opera performance, Slipak received several awards, including "Best Male Performance" for the Toreador Song. A volunteer in the Ukrainian army, Slipak was killed during the war by a Russian sniper near the village of Luhanske, in Donetsk region. Apart from opera, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine for his work as a volunteer soldier.

Born in 1974 in Lviv, Slipak liked to sing since his childhood. At the age of 11, Slipak joined the Lviv children's choir group Dudarik. After that, he continued his education at the Lviv Conservatory. During his education, Slipak participated in a vocal contest in the French city of Clermont, winning the contest. In 1996, Slipak received an invitation to perform at Opéra Bastille in Paris. In 1997 Slipak graduated from the Lysenko Music Academy in Lviv and then was invited to the Paris Opera where he became an opera singer. By 2011, he was at the top of his field, winning the prize for best male performer at the Armel Opera Competition and Festival in Szeged, Hungary, for his rendering of the Toreador Song from the opera Carmen.

Slipak returned to Ukraine and participated in the Euromaidan in 2014. In 2015, Slipak joined the fights against pro-Russian separatists as a member of the 7th Battalion of the Volunteer Ukrainian Corps of the Right Sector. He took the military call sign Mif, a reference to his favorite aria of Mephistopheles from the opera Faust (his informal call sign was Myth). After the war in Donbass, Slipak planned to continue his career in Paris.

On 29 June 2016, at approximately 6 a.m., Slipak was killed by a sniper shot near Luhanske. Slipak's life was the subject of the 2018 documentary film Myth.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has awarded posthumously the title of Hero of Ukraine to Slipak.

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