The bombing of a theater in the besieged city of Mariupol on March 16 may have killed as many as 300 people, according to local authorities citing eyewitnesses. Several hundred people had been sheltering near the Drama Theatre where a Russian airstrike hit the city’s encircled city, but the city council made clear that it was still not possible to determine the exact death toll.
Ukraine’s government has previously said that the number of people killed is impossible to know due to the chaos in Mariupol and the almost constant bombardment from Russian forces. The Russian government denies bombing the theatre. Russian forces claim they have not targeted civilians since invading Ukraine on February 24. In a statement on Friday, Mariupol city council said that witnesses have reported 300 people have died as a result of the Russian plane bombing the Mariupol Drama Theatre.
There were about 130 people rescued from the rubble by Ukrainian emergency services. The theater basement, where local officials noted many people were sheltering while the bombardment was taking place, also escaped the attack.
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