A Russian theatre actress was killed in a Ukrainian strike when she was performing, entertaining the troops. Russian actress Polina Menshikh lost her life when, on November 19, a dance hall in occupied Ukraine was hit by Ukrainian shelling. She was performing to celebrate a Russian holiday.
Approximately 20 soldiers were killed in the attack. A video circulating on social media shows her playing the guitar when the attack took place. The strike took place in the Donetsk region, approximately 60 km from the front line.
Russian pro-war bloggers criticised the organisers of the show saying that concentrating a large number of soldiers made it an obvious target for a Ukrainian strike.
The theatre company linked to Menshikh said, an upcoming performance of a play, which was directed by her, would be performed to commemorate her. The Donetsk region has been the site of intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in recent months.
“It is with great pain that we inform you Polina Menshikh, famous as the director of one of the versions of 'The Last Test', died yesterday at a performance in Donbas as a result of shelling,” the theatre said.
Robert Brovdi, a Ukrainian military commander said the attack was "revenge for the 128th", a reference to a Russian strike this month on soldiers from Ukraine's 128th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade in which the brigade said 19 of its soldiers were killed, Reuters reported.
