EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On 16 March 2022, shortly after 10am, a Russian air strike destroyed the Donetsk Regional Academic Drama Theatre in Mariupol, Ukraine. At the time of the attack, hundreds of civilians were in and around the theatre; many were killed. The theatre was clearly recognizable as a civilian object, perhaps more so than any other location in the city. The evidence Amnesty International has gathered demonstrates that the attack was a war crime. Between 16 March and 21 June Amnesty International collected and analysed a range of evidence related to the attack on the theatre, including 53 first-hand testimonies from survivors and witnesses of the attack and its aftermath, 28 of whom were inside or adjacent to the theatre at the time of the attack; satellite imagery from immediately before and shortly after the attack; radar data from before and after the attack; authenticated photographic and video material provided by survivors and witnesses; two sets of architectural plans; and open-source information. From the start of the war on 24 February until it was destroyed, the theatre served as 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. 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 at the start of the conflict. The number of people sheltering in the theatre increased dramatically on 5 March. The previous day, news had spread rapidly through the city that there was going to be an “official” humanitarian corridor on the 5th through which people could leave the city in buses or private cars. People were instructed to come to three gathering points, one of which was the drama theatre. On the morning of 5 March, a large number of people – perhaps several thousand – showed up at the theatre. When the expected evacuations did not take place that day, several hundred people remained at the theatre.
2
|
Amnesty International
“ 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
