Thursday, March 28

Up to 600 people were killed in Russian attack on Mariupol theater, AP investigation finds

The Associated Press (AP) news agency has reconstructed the bombing of March 16 against the Theater Donetsk Academic Regional Theater of Dramatic Arts, located in the city of Mariupol, thanks to the testimony of 23 survivors, rescue workers and people associated with the center, as well as videos and photographs.

The Ukrainian government initially spoke of approximately 300 deaths, but AP doubles that figure. “All witnesses say that at least 100 people were in a field kitchen outside and none survived. They also said that the halls and corridors of the building were full, with about one person for every three square meters of free space.


Currently the theater is still in ruins, but the videos taken by the Russian media do not show corpses, contrary to the multiple testimonies collected by AP. Most of those witnesses suggest that the bodies have been “pulverized” or removed by the Russians. “Everyone is still under the rubble because the rubble is still there. No one has taken them out,” says Oksana Syomina, a survivor. She says that her husband asked her not to open her eyes, but she ignored him and saw corpses everywhere, including those of children. They had to step on and over the dead to get out of the theater.

During the siege of the city, the authorities ordered the opening of the theater as a refuge thanks to its size, its large basement and its thick walls. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) concluded in a report that the attack had been ordered on purpose and was a serious violation of humanitarian law.

Days before the bombing, on March 9, a maternity hospital was attacked and some of the survivors ended up taking refuge in the theater. On March 15, some 1,200 people were already crowding the building, sleeping in offices, hallways and the basement, the investigation indicates. Many survivors estimate that there were 1,000 people in the theater at the time of the bombing, but the most seen leaving, including rescuers, was about 200.



www.eldiario.es