ATHENS aEUR” Amnesty International, a human rights organization, claims Russia committed a war crime when it bombed a theater where hundreds were sheltering during the March siege on Mariupol (a southern Ukrainian port city that Russian troops decimated and now occupy).
At least 12 people were killed in the strike. Russia prevented Amnesty’s Crisis Response Team (Amnesty) from entering Mariupol. Researchers interviewed survivors in other areas of Ukraine, reviewed satellite data, and hired a physicist for the modeling of the detonation.
The team released the report “Children”: The Attack on Donetsk Regional Acad Drama Theatre in Mariupol (Ukraine). It concluded that two 500kg bombs dropped by Russian fighter planes were used to attack the theatre. They also detonated them simultaneously.
To make it clear that civilians were inside, those who had been hiding inside the theater had written the Russian word to children outside. Russia denied any responsibility and blamed Ukraine.
According to NPR, the Russian Ministry of Defense, as well as official Russian media, claimed that it was Ukraine’s Azov Regiment who blew up the theater. This was a false flag operation and an act of sabotage to Russia,” Joanne Mariner (Amnesty’s director of crisis management), told NPR. We looked into it carefully and also considered the possibility of a Ukrainian airstrike. Both are not plausible on the basis of credible evidence. The theater could also be used for military purposes. However, none of our witnesses saw any military activity.
She stated that the team was also investigating whether the strike could have been accidental. It was clear, however, so the word “Kids” written on the forecourt could have been seen from a plane.
Mariner states that even the most superficial monitoring could have helped Russian military decision-makers recognize that it was a civilian object with active civilian activity within.
She hopes that the investigation will be a guide for other researchers who wish to investigate war crimes at locations they cannot access.
She says, “With the technological capabilities we now have… it is possible to reconstruct and arrive at firm conclusions.” “Russian authorities tried muddy the waters by claiming this was a Ukrainian attack. That claim has been clearly disproved, I believe.
Amnesty International has asked the International Criminal Court for an investigation into the attack, which was deemed a war crime. Amnesty’s secretary general Agnes Callamard stated in a statement that all those responsible for causing such destruction and death must be held accountable.
