Ukraine says Russia strikes Mariupol theatre sheltering residents, Moscow denies attack
www.reuters.com
Russian forces dropped a powerful bomb on a theatre in the encircled Ukrainian port city of Mariupol where hundreds of civilians were sheltering on Wednesday, Ukraine's foreign ministry said.

"Russian forces dropped a powerful bomb on a theatre in the encircled Ukrainian port city of Mariupol where hundreds of civilians were sheltering on Wednesday, Ukraine's foreign ministry said."

"Russia denies targeting civilians. In Moscow, the defence ministry said its forces had not struck the building and instead accused the Azov Battalion, a far-right Ukrainian militia, of blowing it up, RIA news agency said."

if you go on twitter, the story is being completely framed as 100% accurate and a Russian atrocity/war crime despite there being no real proof of anything yet. So I'm really skeptical. This seems extremely convenient "terrible, clearly wrong thing" to occur the same day as further peace talks.

Obviously, if it is real, it's terrible and either was committed by Russia out of stupidity/confusion, or pure malice. But I'll hold my breath before believing anything like this coming from Ukraine at this point.

  • blobjim [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Here's Russia's side more in full: https://www.rt.com/russia/552101-mariupol-theater-ukraine/

    • Malagueta [she/her]
      ·
      3 years ago

      16 Mar, 2022 19:11

      Civilians feared trapped and killed in theater explosion in Ukraine

      Russia says neo-Nazi “Azov” militants blew up building where they were holding hostages

      File photo: Ukrainian soldier in Mariupol, Saturday, March 12, 2022. © AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov

      Responding to claims by Ukraine that an airstrike destroyed a theater in Mariupol and killed civilians sheltering there, the Russian Defense Ministry said there had been no such strikes against ground targets in that city, and accused the neo-Nazi “Azov” battalion of killing its hostages.

      The Russian military was aware of reports that “Azov” militants had kept civilians inside the theater as human shields, and did not consider the building a target for airstrikes for that reason, Major-General Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

      “Previously, it was known from the refugees who got out of Mariupol that the Nazis of the Azov Battalion could hold civilians hostage in the theater building, using the upper floors as firing points,” Konashenkov said.

      Taking into account the potential danger to civilians, and “the provocation already carried out by the nationalists on March 9 with hospital No. 3 in Mariupol, the theater building in the city center was never considered a target for destruction,” he added.

      According to Konashenkov, the “available reliable information” indicates that Azov militants committed “a new bloody provocation by blowing up the theater building they had mined.”

      The paramilitary Ukrainian unit that uses WWII Nazi symbols had made Mariupol its base, and reportedly forbid civilians from fleeing to safety as Russian forces and fighters of the Donetsk People’s Republic surrounded the city.

        • blobjim [he/him]
          ·
          3 years ago

          It would make sense for the neo-Nazis to do a false-flag in order to make the peace negotiations more difficult.