Ukrainian authorities said on Friday, 25 March, that they feared that around 300 people had died in the bombing of the Donetsk Regional Drama Theatre in the port city of Mariupol.
It is, so far, the largest loss of life in a single Russian attack. A spokesperson for the city council released a statement regarding the same.
It read, "Unfortunately, we start this day with bad news. From eyewitnesses, information appears that about 300 people died in the Drama Theatre of Mariupol as a result of a bombardment by a Russian aircraft."
"Until the last," the spokesperson continued, "I do not want to believe in this horror. Until the last, I want to believe that everyone managed to escape. But the words of those who were inside the building at the time of this terrorist act say otherwise."
It was estimated that around 1,300 people were protecting themselves from Russian shelling by taking refuge in the building, and only 150 of them managed to get themselves out of the rubble immediately after the attack.
Mariupol is being targeted by Russian forces because it is considered strategically important for three reasons:
Capturing it would allow the Russian troops to build a land corridor from Luhansk and Donetsk to Crimea, which has been under Putin's control since the Russian annexation in 2014
Kremlin would assert control over maritime trade along the Azov Sea
Controlling Mariupol means controlling 50 industrial sites, including two steel factories – Illich Steel & Iron Works and Azovstal.
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