Mariupol theater bombing: 300 killed in Russian strike, says Ukrainian
Painted on the ground outside the building — in giant Russian letters — was the word “CHILDREN.” The message — large enough to be viewed from the sky — was scrawled near a public square. Russia has denied its forces hit the theater, claiming instead that the Azov battalion, the Ukrainian army’s main presence in Mariupol, blew it up.
Announcing the update on its Telegram channel, the city council said: “Unfortunately, we start the day with bad news. There is information, based on eyewitnesses, that about 300 people died in the Drama Theater in Mariupol as a result of a bombing by Russian aircraft.
“We still do not want to believe in this horror. We still want to believe that everyone managed to escape. But the words of those who were inside the building at the time of this terrorist act say otherwise.”
CNN has been unable to independently verify the death toll.
Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to Mariupol’s mayor said on Telegraph that about 600 people are believed to have survived the attack. He added that many of those who survived were in the process of making their way out of Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia.
“The occupier knew where he was hitting. He knew what the consequences might be, and anyway the bombs fell on this place,” the city council statement Friday said.
Video of the aftermath of the bombing, which emerged recently on social media, shows people making their escape from the dusty and debris strewn building.
Holes in the walls can be seen as people make their way down a staircase to leave the theater.
“The missile hit right in the center of the Drama Theater,” a man’s voice can be heard saying.
In a second video, which shows massive internal structural damage to the building, a man’s voice offers reassurance that he and others with him on the ground floor of the building were not injured in the attack. But he expresses fears that many others who were sheltering in the building remain buried under the rubble.
Breakdown of essential services
The theater was being used as one of the main shelters in Mariupol, which has been under intense bombardment since the early days of Russia’s assault on Ukraine.
Information about the full extent of the attack has been slow to emerge due to the almost complete breakdown of essential services in the city, including communication networks.
Basic services like gas, electricity and water, are all out in the city. Bodies are being left in the street because there is either no one left to collect them, or it is simply too dangerous to try.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced two evacuation corridors for Mariupol and occupied Melitopol on Friday.
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