Eight years ago, on June 13, Ukraine liberated Mariupol from Russia-backed Donetsk People’s Republic terrorists. In 2022, Russians destroyed the city of 500 thousand residents in front of the world.
On March 16, one of the most tragic events occured when Russia bombed the Mariupol Drama Theater killing an estimated 600 people, many of them children, according to an investigative report by the Associated Press.
Photo from Petro Andryushchenko’s Telegram channel
AP researchers recreated the events of that day based on the testimony of 23 people sheltering in the Drama Theater and first responders. No witness saw the Ukrainian military operating inside the building as claimed by Russian propaganda. The investigation left no doubt that the theater was destroyed by Russian air strikes.
The occupation administration of Mariupol announced the theater will reopen September 10 with a season featuring dance and pop music concerts and a theatrical performance, according to Advisor to the Mayor of Mariupol Petro Andryushchenko.
“Dance on bones, performance on graves. And everything is organized by the occupiers and collaborators. The next time cynical russia (sic) shouts about humanism, just remember this message,” wrote Mr Andryushchenko.
Footage from inside the theater on March 8, 2022 Azov Battalion via AP
“On the eighth anniversary of the liberation of Mariupol from pro-Russian terrorists, we are fighting again for the city and all of Ukraine. As was then, in 2014, Mariupol will be free again. The Ukrainian flag will return in the same way as in every town and village where the occupiers came. Because this is our country and our people!” wrote President Zelensky.
