Â鶹ӰÊÓ

Skip to main content

Survivors emerge from rubble of Mariupol theatre bombed by Russia

Share

People sheltering in a theatre in the Ukrainian city of are emerging from the building after it was bombed, the former head of the Donetsk region said Thursday.

Hundreds of people were thought to have amid the ongoing Russian siege of Mariupol. Hundreds of thousands of people are trapped in the coastal city and as many as 2,500 civilians have died in Mariupol, Ukrainian officials estimate.

"After an awful night of not knowing, we finally have good news from Mariupol on the morning of the 22nd day of the war. The bomb shelter [of the theatre] was able to hold. The rubble is beginning to be cleared. People are coming out alive," the former Donetsk region head Sergei Taruta wrote in a Facebook post Thursday.

It was not yet clear whether all those who sheltered in the theatre had survived.

After the bombing on Wednesday, Mariupol City Council shared an image of the building and said Russian forces had "purposefully and cynically destroyed the Drama Theatre in the heart of Mariupol."

CNN has geolocated the image and confirmed it is of the theatre in the southeastern port city. The word "children" was spelled out on two sides of the theatre before it was bombed, according to satellite images.

Ukraine's Minister of Defence Oleskii Reznikov said on Thursday that the Russian who carried out the bombing was a "monster," and stressed the presence of children in the building.

"You've probably already heard that this theater which was struck by missiles, a theatre where 1,200 women and children were hiding," Reznikov told the European Parliament via video link.

"And you can see from the maps, from the drones that around this theatre, big letters of 'children' were written so that the pilot of the plane which was throwing the bombs could see 'children', and still, in spite of that, this monster has bombed the theatre."

Maxim Kach, a Mariupol city government official, said the building was for civilians, with only women and young children hiding within it and not military personnel, while an adviser to the government said it was the largest shelter in Mariupol.

Residents who escaped the city and "hell," with constant shelling, reports of people being held captive in a hospital and residents left without water, electricity or heat.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

The British Columbia election campaign is set to officially start today, with Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin issuing the writ for the Oct. 19 vote.

A northern Ontario man is facing a $12,000 fine after illegally shooting a moose near the Batchawan River.

Unusual flippered feet are making their way into the Saint Lawrence River this weekend. Led by underwater explorer and filmmaker Nathalie Lasselin, volunteer divers are combing the riverbed near Beauharnois in Montérégie to remove hundreds of tires that have been polluting the aquatic environment for decades.

A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.

Local Spotlight

Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.