Russian Occupiers Set to Reopen Mariupol Drama Theater Which They Brutally Attacked In 2022
Russian-installed authorities in occupied Mariupol are preparing to reopen the city’s Drama Theater – the site of one of the most horrific Russian war crimes of 2022 – after claiming to have completed its “restoration.” The opening is planned for December 2025.
The Gaze reports this, referring to the Mariupol City Council.
In a statement on social media, the council said the occupiers intend to turn the theater, once a refuge for hundreds of civilians during Russia’s siege, into a venue for Russian plays and concerts.
“The place that became a grave for hundreds of Mariupol residents is being turned into a stage for propaganda,” the statement reads. “The Russians plan to sing and dance on the bones of the dead.”
The Drama Theater became a global symbol of Russia’s brutality after its bombing on March 16, 2022. Satellite imagery and eyewitness accounts showed that civilians, including children, were sheltering inside the building, where the word “CHILDREN” had been written in large white letters visible from the air.
According to the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office, over 1,000 people were inside; at least 600 were killed and 400 injured. The true number of victims remains unknown because the city has been under occupation since May 2022.
Russian forces later cleared the ruins, using workers from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations after local residents refused to participate. Satellite photos from Maxar Technologies confirmed excavation activity at the site, effectively erasing evidence of the massacre.
Mariupol officials and Ukrainian cultural leaders have condemned the so-called “reconstruction” as an attempt to whitewash war crimes and rewrite the city’s history.
Before the war, the Mariupol Drama Theater was one of eastern Ukraine’s leading cultural landmarks, symbolizing the city’s vibrant cultural identity.
As The Gaze reported earlier, Russia is massively evicting former residents from apartments in occupied territories, transferring housing to ethnic Russians, while construction companies linked to the Kremlin are profiting from the reconstruction of houses demolished as a result of the invasion.