METHODOLOGY

This report is a product of field and remote research carried out between 16 March and 21 June 2022. In its findings and conclusions, the report draws on several types of evidence, including first-hand testimony of survivors and witnesses of the attack on the Donetsk Regional Academic Drama Theatre, verified photographic and video material provided by survivors and witnesses, and official documents, including architectural plans. In addition, an open-source investigation analysed digital content, including videos, photos, and radio intercepts, and satellite imagery and radar data from immediately before and shortly after the attack.

Interviews were conducted in-person in Dnipro, Lviv, and Zaporizhzhia, and over the phone with people in several other locations in Ukraine, Russia, and other countries in Europe. Amnesty International did not have access to Mariupol, and during the time period of the research was unable to conduct remote interviews with survivors and witnesses inside Mariupol because the city’s telecommunications network was down. Amnesty International researchers interviewed 53 people, including 28 survivors of the attack, 6 other witnesses present in the area at the time of the attack, 8 witnesses who visited the theatre shortly after the attack, and 4 people who lived in the theatre during the days prior to the attack. The briefing also draws on testimonial evidence gathered and analysed by journalists and other human rights organizations.

Amnesty International informed all interviewees about the nature and purpose of the research and about how the information they provided would be used. Oral consent was obtained from each interviewee before the interview. No incentives were provided to interviewees in exchange for their accounts. Interviews generally lasted between one and three hours. Most interviews were conducted using translators fluent in Ukrainian and Russian; several were conducted in English.

For reasons of privacy and security – especially the security of family members still living in Mariupol – 24 interviews were conducted on the condition that Amnesty International refrain from publishing the interviewee’s name and any information that could identify the interviewee, the interviewee’s family, or anyone else who might be at risk if they were identified.

To conduct an open-source investigation of the attack, Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab examined and verified 46 photos and videos of the strike location that were pulled from social media, such as Twitter and Telegram. In addition, the lab verified an additional 99 photos and videos that were shared with researchers, but were private and had not been loaded publicly to social media. Amnesty International also gained access to three archives containing 268 radio recordings related to the activity of Russian forces in Ukraine on 16 March 2022.

On 27 June 2022, Amnesty International sent letters to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Russian Ministry of Defense. The letters requested specific information about the attack on the drama theatre. It also requested information about any criminal investigations related to the attack. The letter also provides a summary of Amnesty International’s evidence related to the attack. At the time of publication, Amnesty International had not received any response from the civilian or military authorities.

Map of Mariupol, Ukraine © OpenStreetMap contributors