On March 16, an airstrike hit the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theater in Mariupol, where civilians sheltered amid a Russian offensive.
Russia’s siege of the port city concluded on May 20, after Ukrainian forces there surrendered. Located in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Mariupol is now controlled by Russian proxy fighters of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR).
Now, one month into Russia’s occupation, a DNR “investigator” claims there were no civilians in the theater at the time of the attack.
“If at once there were a large number of civilians, as eyewitnesses show us, then, closer to the day of the tragedy, there were actually no civilians left in the drama theater,” Aleksei Kutsurbenko told Russian state broadcaster Sputnik.
“Yes, as we have established, there was a food and humanitarian aid distribution point, and civilians came and ate there, but there were a small number of them.”
This portrayal is false. and witness accounts have established that the strike caused extensive civilian casualties. Russia has made numerous false claims about the incident, including that Ukrainian forces were responsible for the attack, as part of a broad pattern to misrepresent Russian military attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure as “provocations.”
Although Sputnik’s English-language report make no mention of casualties, its Russian-language version the remains of 14 victims were found.
That report implies that the 14 dead were not civilians. Citing Kutsurbenko, the Sputnik report states that civilians had left the theater by the time of the explosion, adding that Ukrainian forces had “set up firing positions” inside.
The report further cites Russia’s Defense Ministry, which claimed the building was blown up as a “bloody provocation” committed by the Azov Regiment, an all-volunteer unit formed to fight Russia’s clandestine invasion of Ukraine in 2014 (and later incorporated into Ukraine’s National Guard. Russia has that the regiment is infiltrated by nazis.).
With Russian occupation forces closing off access to investigators and hauling the rubble away, the exact number of casualties is unknown. But numerous witness accounts contradict Russia’s claims.
An investigation by the Associated Press (AP) published in May estimated 600 civilians were killed in the Mariupol theater airstrike — twice the number given by the Mariupol City Council.
The drew on testimony from 16 “direct witnesses,” most of whom were inside the theater. The AP methodology used to calculate that death toll is .
After Russia launched its siege of Mariupol, city authorities ordered that the theater be used as a makeshift bomb shelter because of its size, sturdy build and large basement, AP reported. By March 15, around 1,200 people had reportedly taken shelter there.
The Ukrainian word for “children” was written outside the front and back of the theater in giant bold letters large enough to be read from satellites.
The presence of women and children in the theater is well-documented.
Survivors said about 1,000 people were inside at the time of the 10 a.m. airstrike. They also estimate “upwards of 100 people” were at a field kitchen outside the theater. Survivors told the AP everyone at that kitchen was killed by the strike.
Amnesty International released in June which, drawing on 53 first-hand testimonies, including 28 people who were “inside or adjacent to the theater,” also contradicts Russian claims that no civilians were inside the building.
“After months of rigorous investigation, analysis of satellite imagery and interviews with dozens of witnesses, we concluded that the strike was a clear war crime committed by Russian forces,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general.
Callamard said the deaths likely resulted from “Russian forces deliberately targeting Ukrainian civilians” and should be investigated by the International Criminal Court.
However, the Amnesty report settled on a far more conservative death toll — “at least a dozen people.” Amnesty added that it is “likely that many additional fatalities remain unreported,” noting that wartime circumstances in Mariupol made only a “crude approximation” of the number of fatalities possible.
“In normal circumstances, police and emergency services would have had secure access to the theater and would have been able to excavate bodies and attempt to identify them. Such work was impossible after the attack on the theater, however,” the report stated.
Once Russian forces gained control of the area, they reportedly blocked journalists and citizens from accessing the theater.