KIEV: At least 300 people have been killed in a Russian airstrike on a theater in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol on the 16th of this month. Russia has denied allegations by the Mariupol City Council that it bombed a theater that had been turned into a refuge.
The city government confirmed the death toll, citing eyewitnesses. The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a police station. Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Ludmila Denisova had earlier said that 1,300 people had taken refuge there. 130 people were rescued but it was not clear how many were killed.
Meanwhile, Metilda Bogner, head of the UN human rights body in Ukraine, said mass graves had been found in the Mariupol urban areas. It is learned that 200 bodies have been recovered. Bogner said the number of civilians killed in the country exceeded 1,035.
A month-long attempt by Russia to seize the capital, Kyiv, has not paid off. Due to strong resistance from the Ukrainian army, many Russian troops were forced to withdraw. Ukraine recaptured several cities, including Borispol, east of Kiev. The UK believes this is a sign of a change in the course of the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selensky has called on NATO to provide more fighter jets, tankers and defense equipment. Selensky said the Russian attack had destroyed 230 schools and 155 kindergartens. Russia claims to have destroyed the largest oil field in Kiev.
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