Amnesty International has classified the airstrike on the Mariupol theater in March as a war crime by Russian forces. According to the human rights organization, it spent nearly three months collecting evidence and has now filed a report on it. According to a Ukrainian politician, Russia’s army continues its heavy attacks on the eastern city of Lysychansk.
Online since today, 6:14 am
Philip Pfleger (text), Günther Rosenberger (image), Florian Zischka (video), all ORF.at/agents
Also included in the Amnesty report are testimonies of 52 survivors and witnesses, 28 of whom were believed to be in or near the theater at the time of the March 16 attack. “The attack on the theater in Mariupol is a war crime by Russian troops,” said Julia Duchrow of Amnesty International Germany. Most likely, two 500-kilogram bombs were dropped. Residents of the embattled Ukrainian port city sought shelter at the theater.
According to the report, Amnesty International determined that at least 12 people were killed in the attack and “many others” were seriously injured. The reported minimum number of casualties is lower than previous estimates because large numbers of people left the theater in the days leading up to the attack – and most of those who remained took refuge in the theater’s basement or other parts of the building that would not have suffered. the full force of the attack blast had been reached.
“Violent” attacks in Lysychansk
Fighting in eastern Ukraine continues. The governor of eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region, Serhiy Gaiday, said Russian attacks on the city of Lysychansk were “violent”. The city is “constantly bombed with large calibers,” the politician said. “The fighting on the outskirts of the city continues. The Russian army is constantly trying to attack.” According to the governor, about 15,000 civilians are still in the city.
Putin: “Everything is going according to plan”
More than four months after the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has again asserted that hostilities are going according to plan. “The work is silent, rhythmic, the troops are moving and reaching the lines that have been laid out for them as landmarks,” Putin said in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat. “Everything is going according to plan,” he told Russian news agency TASS.
Where is the war in Ukraine going?
Entire cities have been razed and civilians are also dying from Russian rockets far from the hard-fought front lines in the country’s east: even months after Russia invaded Ukraine, there is no end in sight to the war ravaging the country. middle of Europe. What could lead Russia to peace? To what extent does diplomacy have any chance these days? Where is the war in Ukraine going?
Discuss with debate.ORF.at!