2. LIFE AT THE DRAMA THEATRE BEFORE THE ATTACK
During the war the Donetsk Regional Academic Drama Theatre became a haven for civilians fleeing violence in other parts of the city; a hub for the distribution of food, water, and critical information about desperately awaited evacuation corridors; and a designated gathering point for the expected evacuations.22 Many people fled to the theatre on foot. Others were evacuated in vehicles driven by volunteers or by members of the military, the police, or emergency services. Most of the people sheltering at the theatre were children, women, or older people. More than a thousand people lived in the theatre between the start of the war and the time it was attacked. The theatre’s population grew substantially over time. Approximately one hundred people took shelter there between the start of the war and 4 March. These initial arrivals were primarily current and former theatre employees and their families and people who had fled violence in the Left Bank at the start of the conflict. Yevheniia Zabohonska, a lighting artist, was the first to arrive, along with her daughter and another employee of the theatre.23 Her husband Serhii Zabohonskyi, an actor, arrived a few days later. They became two of the theatre’s unofficial administrators.24 Nataliia Honcharova, a former speech coach at the theatre, her husband, Valeriy, and their children, fled to the theatre during the first few days of the war because it was no longer safe to live in their apartment. “At the start it was mostly colleagues [and their families]… but more people came each day,” Nataliia said.25 Anastasia Karpeeva, a 15-year-old student and aspiring boxer, arrived at the theatre with her brother on 27 February after fleeing violence in the Left Bank.26 Ihor Matiushyn, a playwright
22 For more information about life in the drama theatre prior to the attack see: Wall Street Journal, “Ukrainians Who Sheltered in the Mariupol Theatre Made it a Thriving Village: For nearly three weeks before the Russian bombing, residents escaped the onslaught by working together,” 31 March 2022, wsj.com/articles/life-inside-the-mariupol-theater-before-the-russian-bombing-11648741948 23
Amnesty International interview with Yevheniia Zabohonska, 20 June 2022.
24
Amnesty International interview with Serhii Zabohonskyi, 8 May 2022.
25
Amnesty International interview with Nataliia Honcharova, 22 April 2022.
26
Amnesty International interview with Anastasia Karpeeva, 19 April 2022.
“ C H I L D R E N ” : T H E AT TA C K O N T H E D O N E T S K R E G I O N A L A C A D E M I C D R A M A T H E AT R E I N M A R I U P O L , U K R A I N E
Amnesty International
| 13
