Surviving Mariupol

The Donetsk Regional Academic Drama Theater in Mariupol served as a shelter for civilians during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Actors and staff converted the sturdy building into a refuge, housing families fleeing shelling. By March 5, physician Olena Matiushyn and her daughter Olha moved into the theater after their apartment was hit, joining others displaced by the siege. On March 16, a Russian airstrike destroyed the theater, killing hundreds sheltering inside. Satellite images confirmed the attack, which occurred despite a declared humanitarian corridor and ceasefire. No evacuation buses arrived, leaving civilians stranded in freezing temperatures. Olena Matiushyn later described the moment as realizing ‘the Russians had come to kill us.’ The theater’s destruction marked one of the earliest and deadliest confirmed attacks on civilians in the war. No forensic investigation was conducted, and Russian occupation forces later removed the ruins. Survivors, including Olena’s husband Ihor—a playwright and volunteer policeman—recounted chaos as hundreds gathered outside the theater, waiting in vain for aid. The attack underscored the brutality of Russia’s siege tactics, with survivors emphasizing the deliberate targeting of civilians. Olena’s mother-in-law, a WWII survivor, refused to leave her home, symbolizing the defiance of Mariupol’s residents. The theater’s bombing remains a defining atrocity, with no accountability from Russian authorities.