The Mariupol City Council announced on its Telegram page that Russia bombed a theater “where hundreds of peaceful Mariupol residents were hiding” amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to the Telegram post, both the central part of the theater and the entrance to the theater’s bomb shelter were destroyed.
“It is still impossible to estimate the scale of this horrific and inhumane act,” the city council said in the Telegram post, an English translation of which was shared on Twitter by Agenda-Free TV anchor Steve Lookner. “It is impossible to find words that could describe the level of cruelty and cynicism with which the Russian occupiers are destroying the civilian population of the Ukrainian city by the sea.”
Wednesday’s theater bombing is the latest in a series of attacks in Mariupol. Airstrikes and shells have hit hospitals, the city’s fire department, homes and other city buildings. Earlier this week, nearly 30,000 civilians were able to get out of the city via nine humanitarian corridors.
Russia announced its law enforcement has its first three criminal cases involving a new law that criminalizes the intentional spreading of what Moscow deems to be “fake” reports. The most notable of the cases involves Veronika Belotserkovskaya, a Russian-language cookbook author and popular blogger living abroad. According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, Belotserkovskaya made posts on Instagram containing “deliberately false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to destroy cities and the civilian population of Ukraine, including children.”
“I have been officially declared to be a decent person,” Belotserkovskaya said responding to the Investigative Committee’s announcement.
The other two cases involve an unnamed man and woman in the Tomsk Region of Siberia. The Investigative Committee accused them of posting false messages about Russian military operations and casualties.
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