Russo-Ukrainian war: the attack on the Mariupol theater leaves “at least 300 dead”; Ukraine takes over cities east of kyiv – latest news | world news

Local officials in the besieged city of Mariupol said at least 300 people were killed in the March 16 bombing of the drama theatre.

It is believed that around 1,300 people sheltered the building, with only 150 survivors staggering out of the rubble immediately after the attack.

Sources said most of those in the theater had taken cover from the shelling below the stage and rubble was blocking their exit.




This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies on Saturday, March 19 shows the aftermath of the airstrike on the Mariupol Drama Theater in Ukraine. Photography: AP

There are no emergency services operating in Mariupol, and heavy fighting and shelling near the theater has hampered rescue attempts. The theater was bombed by planes while the word children had been painted on the ground in white.

In a statement on Friday morning, a City Council spokesman said they were able to share a new death toll from the tragedy.

The statement read: “Unfortunately, we start this day with bad news. According to eyewitnesses, reports seem to indicate that around 300 people died in the Mariupol Drama Theater as a result of a bombardment by a Russian plane. Until the last, I do not want to believe in this horror. Until the last, I 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.

“Drama theater in the heart of Mariupol has always been the hallmark of the city. A meeting place, dates, a point of reference. ‘Where are you? I’m on Drama.’ How many times have we heard or said this sentence: ‘on the Drama’.

“Now there is no more drama. In its place, a new pain point for the people of Mariupol has appeared, ruins that have become the last refuge for hundreds of innocent people.

The statement continues: “Drama theater has been cynically destroyed by the messengers of the ‘Russian world’. These 21st century fascists were stopped neither by the huge inscription CHILDREN, nor by the declarations of the people themselves that there were only peaceful people there – women, children, old people. The occupier knew where he was hitting.




A satellite image shows the Mariupol Drama Theater before the bombing with the word

A satellite image shows the Mariupol Drama Theater before the bombing with the word “children” in Russian written in large white letters on the pavement in front and behind the Mariupol building. Photography: Maxar Technologies/Reuters

“We can restore buildings, but we will never recover friends, neighbors, relatives and loved ones. Blessed memory of all the innocent victims of the senseless war waged against Ukraine by the aggressor country, the terrorist country, Russia.

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