Occupation authorities reopen Mariupol Drama Theater where hundreds died

It is noted that at the site of the Russian war crime, the invaders staged a concert attended by the head of the so-called “DPR,” Denis Pushilin; St. Petersburg Gov. Alexander Beglov, who has been under U.S. sanctions since April 2022; and Russian actor Vladimir Mashkov, who has been convicted in absentia in Ukraine for war propaganda.

The “restoration” of the theater began in July 2023, and the building’s basement levels were completely filled with concrete.

As the city council said, the new structure merely imitates the destroyed theater. The restored sculptures are of poor quality, and the facade looks nothing like it did before the destruction: previously it was clad in white Crimean stone delivered by sea. Instead, the invaders limited the work to painting brick walls.

“The ‘restoration’ of the theater is a cynical attempt to conceal the traces of a war crime and part of the city’s aggressive Russification policy,” the statement said.

The invaders also announced that the repertoire of the “restored” theater would feature productions based on works by Russian writers and playwrights.

Russian strike on the Mariupol Drama Theater

On March 16, 2022, Russian forces dropped a powerful bomb on the Mariupol Drama Theater, where about 1,300 people may have been sheltering. The word “Children” was written near the building and could not have gone unnoticed.

In May that year, The Associated Press reported, citing its investigation, that 600 people were killed in the Russian strike on the Mariupol theater.

In August 2022, Ukraine’s Armed Forces Strategic Communications Directorate said that while working on the theater’s so-called reconstruction, occupiers poured concrete over the bodies of the dead and tried to eliminate the smell with chlorine.

Amnesty International determined that on March 16 Russia deliberately attacked the Mariupol Drama Theater, despite knowing that hundreds of civilians were sheltering there.

After occupying the city, Russian invaders began destroying evidence of their war crime.