The report by the human rights organization Amnesty International stated today (Thursday) that the attack on the Donetsk Regional Drama Theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, which the Russian army attacked on March 16, apparently on purpose, even though the forces knew hundreds of civilians had taken refuge there. Thus, this attack constitutes a clear war crime.
Amnesty International’s crisis response team interviewed a large number of survivors and gathered extensive digital evidence, concluding that the attack was almost certainly carried out by Russian fighter jets, which dropped two 500kg bombs that hit close to each other and exploded simultaneously.
“After months of rigorous investigation, analysis of satellite images and interviews with dozens of witnesses, we have come to the conclusion that the attack was a clear war crime committed by Russian forces,” said Anise Kalamar, secretary general of Amnesty International. “Their deaths were apparently caused by Russian forces that deliberately attacked Ukrainian citizens.”
“The International Criminal Court, and all other bodies with jurisdiction over crimes committed during this conflict, must investigate this attack as a war crime. All those responsible must be brought to justice for causing such death and destruction.”
Amnesty International commissioned a physicist to build a mathematical model of the explosion, to determine the net explosive weight of the explosion which was required to cause the level of destruction seen in the theater. The conclusion was that the bombs weighed between 400-800 kg. Based on available evidence about the aerial bombs in Russia’s weapons depot, Amnesty International believes that they were probably two 500 kg bombs of the same model.
The most likely Russian aircraft to carry out the attack was a multi-purpose fighter jet – such as the Su-25, Su-30 or Su-34 – parked at nearby Russian airports, and was often seen operating in the skies of southern Ukraine.
Amnesty International has examined a number of alternative theories regarding those responsible for the attack, and what weapons may have been used. Based on the available credible evidence, the investigation ultimately found that an air strike aimed at the civilian target is the most likely explanation.
“I could not believe my eyes”
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022, civilians began fleeing their homes when cities and towns were targets for military attacks. In the besieged Mariupol in the Donetsk region, the theater became a refuge for civilians seeking refuge from the fighting. The theater, in the central district of the city (Tsentralnyi – the central district), was a focal point for the distribution of medicines, food and water, and a meeting point for people hoping to evacuate through humanitarian corridors. The building was clearly recognized as a civic purpose, perhaps more than anywhere else in the city.
The locals also wrote the huge Cyrillic letters “Дети” – in Russian the word “children” – on the yards on both fronts of the building, which were clearly visible to Russian pilots and also in satellite images. Nonetheless, Russian bombs hit the theater shortly after 10 a.m. on March 16, causing a large explosion that caused the roof and huge sections of two main walls to collapse. At the time of the attack, there were hundreds of civilians in the theater and its surroundings.
Amnesty International believes that at least a dozen people were killed in the attack and apparently many more, and that many others were seriously injured. This estimate of Amnesty is lower than previous numbers of those killed in the attack because a large number of people left the theater during the two days prior to the bombing, and most of those left were in the theater basement and other areas that were probably protected from the blast.
The blast destroyed the interior walls adjacent to the sides of the concert hall, damaging the load-bearing exterior walls, creating two major ruins on the northeast and southwest sides of the building. The two ruins are seen in satellite images taken a few minutes after the impact.
Igor Moroz, a 50-year-old architect, was nearby when the theater was hit. He told Amnesty International: “Everything happened before our eyes. We were 200 or 300 meters away when the explosion happened I could hear a plane and the sound of bombs. Then we saw the roof of the theater rising.”
Gregory Golubnyov, a 51-year-old entrepreneur, said: “I was walking down the street leading to the Drama Theater I could hear the sound of a plane but at the time I did not really notice that [מטוסים] All the time flying around I saw the roof of the building exploding he jumped 20 meters and then collapsed and then I saw a lot of smoke and rubble I could not believe my eyes because the theater was a refuge. There were two large ‘kids’ signs. “
Vitaly Kontrov, a 48-year-old truck driver, was also close to the theater at the time of the bombing. He told Amnesty International: “We heard planes and saw two missiles fired from one plane at the theater.”
Russian forces in Mariupol (Photo: Reuters)“In a second everything changed”
In all, the interviewees provided Amnesty International with the full names of four people killed: Mikhail Harbanestsky, Luba Sviridova, Yelena Kuznetsova and Igor Chistyakov. They also gave the names of three other people they believe were killed. Several survivors and other witnesses reported seeing dead bodies of people they could not identify, and it is likely that many of the dead were not reported or identified.
One of the survivors, aged 19, was in the basement of the building with her boyfriend and her mother when the bombs fell. She told Amnesty International: “In a second everything changed. Everything jumped people started screaming. It was full of dust. I saw people bleeding. We grabbed our documents and went there are some people who were not lucky.”
Yahavan Harbensky found the body of his father Mikhailo inside the concert hall. Yahavan told Amnesty International: “There were a lot of wounded. There were policemen who tried to rescue people from the rubble. At first I saw Mikhailo’s arm. First, I saw a familiar hand. You know your family member’s hand. His face was covered in blood. His body was covered in bricks. I did not want my mother. Look. “
Dmitry Simonenko was with Luba Sviridova moments before she died from her injuries. He told Amnesty International: “She was seriously injured. She managed to crawl out of the rubble. She asked us to remember her name because she felt she was dying.” Many other interviewees told Amnesty International that they had seen bleeding bodies and dismembered body parts, including legs and arms, in the rubble of the destroyed building following the attack.
Fighting Mariupol (Photo: Reuters)Intentional harm to civilians
International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is a concentration of laws relating to armed conflict. The core principle of international humanitarian law is that the parties to an armed conflict must at all times distinguish between civilians and civilian targets, and military members and military targets. Military targets can be hit; Civilians or civilian targets must not be harmed. Prior to any attack, military members are required to take steps to ensure that they are reasonably certain that they are not targeting civilians and civilian targets.
None of the 28 survivors interviewed by Amnesty International, nor any of the other witnesses in the theater on the day of the bombing, provided information indicating that the Ukrainian army uses the theater as a base for operations, as a place to store weapons, or as a place to launch attacks.
The civilian nature of the theater and the presence of many civilians were evident in the weeks leading up to the bombing. The nature of the attack – the location of the attack inside the building, as well as the weapons that were probably used – and the lack of a potentially legitimate military target nearby, significantly suggest that the theater was the target of the attack. As a result, apparently, the assault constitutes a deliberate assault on a civilian target, and is a war crime.
“In the air and on the ground, Russian forces were on a well-documented killing spree of civilians in Ukraine,” said Ennis Kalamar. “Thorough investigations are urgently needed in order to hold criminals responsible for the serious injury and loss of civilian life they caused, as well as the extensive damage to civilian infrastructure.”
Between March 16 and June 21, Amnesty International collected and analyzed available available evidence related to the attack on the theater. This includes 52 first-hand testimonies of survivors and witnesses to the bombing and its aftermath, 28 of which were then inside or near the theater. Amnesty International also analyzed satellite images and radar data shortly before and shortly after the attack; photographed, verified materials provided by survivors and witnesses; and two sets of theatrical architectural plans.
This was supported by an open-source investigation by Amnesty International’s Evidence Lab in moments of crisis, which examined and verified 46 photos and videos of the attack shared on social media, as well as 143 more photos and videos shared privately with investigators.