On March 16, 2022, the Russian army purposefully dropped two aerial bombs on the Drama Theater in the center of Mariupol. Then the building became a shelter for local residents from enemy attacks, near it was the inscription "Children".
What is known about the tragedy in Mariupol
On March 16, 2022, a Russian plane dropped aerial bombs on a drama theater in the center of Mariupol. The theater building was a shelter for more than 1,000 people.
According to the Donetsk region prosecutor's office, about 600 people were killed and at least 400 people were injured as a result of the shelling. It is impossible to establish the exact number — the city is under occupation.
On the second anniversary of the tragedy in Mariupol, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that the world should remember everything that Russia did against Ukraine and Ukrainians, and every Russian murderer should be held accountable for what he did.
We will ensure their responsibility. A bright memory to all those whose lives were taken by Russian terror.
Volodymyr Zelenskyi
President of Ukraine
A warning was written in Russian on the square near the building that there were children in the building.
According to the Mariupol City Council, about 300 people died in the theater as a result of the bombing. According to other data, from 600 to 1,200 civilians could have died in the theater and nearby buildings.
The Russian Federation rejects accusations of committing this war crime, despite the conclusions of international organizations, and claims that the theater was mined by the Ukrainian side, and the explosion occurred from the inside.
The international human rights organization Amnesty International reported in June of last year that the attack on the drama theater in Mariupol on March 16 was carried out by the Russian military, presumably by dropping two 500-kilogram bombs from a fighter jet, which detonated simultaneously.
On December 23, it became known that the Russian occupiers completely dismantled the ruins of the theater building.
The adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, Petro Andryushchenko, said that Ukraine has sufficient evidence that the Russians committed the murder of civilians in the Mariupol Drama Theater, despite the dismantling of its building by the occupiers.
How the Russian army destroyed Mariupol
After the invasion of the criminal army of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, the Russian occupiers almost immediately began an offensive in the direction of Mariupol and stormed the city for several months, seeking to create a land corridor with the occupied Crimea.
At the beginning of March 2022, Mariupol was completely surrounded, and some units of the Russian army made attempts to advance to the city center.
Mariupol was bombed from the air, shelled by tanks, mortars and heavy artillery.
Many residents left their homes and moved into basements, until the beginning of March there were approximately 450,000 people who either could not or did not want to evacuate.
By April 13, the occupiers had captured most of the city, and on the 21st, Moscow announced its capture.
In mid-May, the last fighters of the Ukrainian garrison who were defending themselves on "Azovstal" surrendered.
Since the criminal army of the Russian Federation mercilessly bombed Mariupol at the beginning of March, people mostly hid in basements and people went outside for a short time to get water and cook food on a fire.
During the bombings of the criminal army of the Russian Federation, local residents hid in an underground shelter on the territory of the hospital.
At approximately 2:50 p.m. on March 9, the roar of an airplane was heard, then a powerful explosion rang out, as a result of which the maternity ward and the children's diagnostic center were damaged.
On March 9, a few minutes before the air bomb was dropped on maternity hospital No. 3, aircraft struck the Pryazovsky State Technical University.
Analyzing with the help of satellite images and information from open sources of destruction in the central part of Mariupol, human rights defenders established that 86 of 89 educational institutions in Mariupol were affected — all 15 of 15 universities were affected, and 71 of 74 schools were affected.
