A theater blown down by a Russian airstrike in the besieged city of Mariupol Wednesday, where hundreds of civilians had been taking shelter in the grand, columned theater in central Mariupol after their homes were destroyed in three weeks of fighting in the southern port city of 430,000.
Satellite imagery on Monday from Maxar Technologies showed huge white letters on the pavement in front of and behind the theater spelling out “CHILDREN” in Russian — “DETI” — to alert warplanes to those inside.
Russia’s military denied bombing the theatre in Mariupol on Wednesday.
There have been 130 people rescued so far from the rubble of a theater that was being used as a shelter in the besieged city of Mariupol when it was destroyed in a Russian strike, says a Ukrainian official.
Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Lyudmyla Denisova says rescue work is ongoing as some 1,300 people are believed to still be trapped.
There are not yet any reports of deaths.
Even as rescuers continue to search through the wreckage of the theater, Italy offered to provide the means and the funds to rebuild it when that becomes possible.
Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini tweeted that the government at a cabinet meeting approved his proposal to supply the assistance.
“The theaters of all countries belong to all of humanity,” the minister said.
The strike against the theater was part of a furious bombardment of civilian sites in multiple cities over the past few days.
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