Russia has destroyed a major theatre in the Ukrainian megacity of Mariupol which was being used as a shelter by hundreds of civilians, Ukrainian authorities said on March 16.

A lot of people were inside the theatre, the megacity’s deputy mayor Serhiy Orlov said. Principally kids and women were in the basement of the theatre approximately 1000 peoples were inside when the incident happen. At this moment 130 people had been saved from the basement.  

‘’The number of casualties is presently unknown’’ Said the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

City authorities are trying to establish the number of casualties but said they’re being occupied by continued Russian airstrikes in near neighbourhoods.

“Another horrible war crime in Mariupol. Russian airstrike on the theatre where hundreds of innocent civilians were hiding. The building is now fully ruined. Russians couldn’t have known this was a civil shelter,” Kuleba twitted.

Concrete proof of Russian attacks on civil areas proved by journalists, including RFE/ RL reporters on the ground, Moscow denies targeting civil areas.

Ukraine’s strategic port of Mariupol on the Ocean of Azov has been encircled by Russian forces, with an estimated number of people trapped with no current water, electricity, or gas.

Approximately 400 staff and patients are still being held inside Mariupol hospital, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna