The Russians have completed the exterior repairs of the Mariupol Drama Theatre, which they themselves destroyed with a missile. They claim the facade is now 100% restored and interior finishing works are ongoing. Russian forces struck the theatre on 16 March 2022, while civilians were sheltering inside.

Source: Mariupol City Council

Details: The occupation authorities plan to stage the first performance in the restored building by the end of the year.

Mariupol City Council said that “behind all this imitation of ‘restoration’ lie the atrocities of the Russian occupiers, who dropped bombs on the theatre on 16 March 2022. At that time, hundreds of Mariupol residents, many of them children, were sheltering inside. Many of them did not survive.”

Repair works of the Mariupol Drama Theatre**Photo: Mariupol City Council

From the beginning of the full-scale invasion on 24 February until its destruction, the Mariupol theatre had served as a refuge for civilians, a centre for distributing food and water, a place to obtain information about evacuation routes and a gathering point for evacuation. From 24 February to 4 March, about a hundred people – mostly current and former theatre employees, their families, and people fleeing violence in early 2022 – used it as a shelter.

Repair works of the Mariupol Drama Theatre**Photo: Mariupol City Council

Russian forces struck the theatre at about 10:00 on 16 March 2022, when hundreds of Mariupol residents were hiding in the basement. Journalists from the Associated Press concluded that around 600 people may have been killed, although no exact data is available as Mariupol remains under occupation.

Repair works of the Mariupol Drama Theatre**Photo: Mariupol City Council

The theatre’s troupe managed to leave the occupied city and began a revival in Uzhhorod.

After the Russians cleared the rubble, it became impossible to count the exact number of those killed in the strike on the drama theatre.

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