On 16 March 2022, Russian troops purposefully destroyed the Drama Theater in the center of Mariupol, which served as a shelter for hundreds of citizens. A bomb was dropped on the building.
It is still impossible to estimate the scale of this horrific and inhumane act because the city continues to suffer from shellings of residential areas. This information was reported in the Telegram of the Mariupol City Council.
"It is known that the bombing destroyed the central part of the Drama Theater and destroyed the entrance to the building's bomb shelter. The information about the victims is being clarified. It is impossible to find words to describe the level of cruelty and cynicism with which the Russian occupiers are eliminating residents of a peaceful Ukrainian city by the sea. "Women, children, and the elderly remain enemy's targets. They are unarmed civilians. It is obvious that the only goal of the Russian army is the genocide of the Ukrainian people," the statement said.
The Russian army arranged a humanitarian catastrophe in Mariupol. They hinder evacuations, prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid, and constantly fire on the city with various weapons. Yesterday, the enemy took hostage doctors and patients of a local hospital.