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• Authorities say that the building was housing at least 500, civilians
• The city of Mauripol has become a battleground for the Russians who are now targeting the elderly, women, and children
Ukrainian authorities accused Russian forces of bombing a theatre in Mauripol which was being used as a war shelter by civilians, including women and children.
Mariupol City Council shared an image of the destroyed building. They said that Russian forces had “purposefully and cynically destroyed the Drama Theater in the heart of Mariupol.”
Al Jazeera reported that the theatre had been housing at least 500 civilians.
“This raises serious concerns about what the intended target was in a city where civilians have already been under siege for days, and telecommunications, power, water, and heating have been almost completely cut off,” said Belkis Wille, reported Al Jazeera. Wille is a senior researcher in the Human Rights Watch’s conflict and crisis division.
The same report mentioned that satellite images of the theatre on March 14, showed the words “children” clearly etched out in the ground in Russian on either side of the building, before it was bombed.
CNN verified that the image was of the theater in the southeastern port city.
The Russian defense ministry refuted the claims of the Ukrainian authorities and instead accused a far-right Ukrainian militia, the Azov Battalion, of blowing it up, without providing any evidence to support its argument, reported Jazeera.
War crimes
Three days ago, a wounded pregnant woman who was taken on a stretcher from a maternity hospital in Mauripol, that was bombed by Russia last week, died, along with her baby.
The Associated Press reported that she was one of at least three pregnant women from the maternity hospital that was bombarded last Wednesday in the Mariupol. The other two survived, along with their newborn daughters.
Also read: 20 days of war, 1,761 Ukrainian casualties
Inputs from CNN and Al Jazeera
Picture Credits: CNN