People are beginning to emerge alive from a theatre in Mariupol that had reportedly been sheltering at least 1,000 civilians when it was bombed by Russian forces, local authorities said on Thursday.
Casualty numbers were still unknown on Thursday morning with rescuers struggling to reach those trapped under the rubble.
But the region's former governor said there were definitely some survivors.
"Truly good news from Mariupol on the morning of the 22nd day of the war after a horrific night: The bombshelter has withstood. Rescuers are clearing out the debris, people are coming out of there alive," said Serhiy Taruta, a Mariupol native.
The theatre was reported to be being used as a bomb shelter by at least 1,000 women and children before it was hit late on Wednesday.
Satellite photos released by Maxar Technologies showed the Russian word “children” clearly written in large script on the ground in front and behind the building.
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"The only word to describe what has happened today is genocide, genocide of our nation, our Ukrainian people," the city's mayor Vadim Boychenko said in a video message on Telegram.
"We have difficulty understanding all of this, we refuse to believe, we want to close our eyes and forget the nightmare that happened today."
The mayor of the nearby city of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Senkevych, also condemned the attack, telling the BBC that Russian forces "like the taste of the blood".
Pictures that emerged on Wednesday showed smoke rising from what was left of the white building, with debris strewn across the well-kept park, with manicured bushes below broken trees.
The southern Ukrainian city of 450,000 people has become the most intense battleground of the Russian invasion so far, subjected to three weeks of siege and shelling which the Red Cross said has left “apocalyptic” conditions.
Mariupol sits between eastern territory controlled by Russia-backed separatists on one side and the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014 on the other. Capturing it would give the Russians a clear land corridor all the way through, controlling the Sea of Azov.
Local officials have tallied more than 2,500 deaths in the siege, but many bodies are thought to lie uncollected and uncounted. The toll could be closer to 20,000, they have speculated.
Meanwhile, Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, said hundreds of staff and patients were being held hostage at a city hospital that Russian forces had captured.
Video from the theatre less than a week ago appears to show civilians, including children, packed in the basement in the dark.
In the video, women dressed in winter coats queued up by what was once the theatre’s cloakroom to get their rations. Nearby, children in puffed jackets and woollen hats sat on the floor underneath the portraits of the theatre’s star actors.
A man who appeared to be an employee said they had taken all the fabric they had at the theatre, including the costumes, to make beds for those inside.
“People, listen to us: there are more than 1,000 people here including pregnant women and children. Please help us. Please stop the war,” he said.
He added, before breaking into tears and walking away: “Give us a green corridor to take the people out, first women and the injured. I don’t know how and when, but please stop it.”
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said that the attack on the theatre was “another horrendous war crime in Mariupol”. He tweeted on Wednesday evening:
Another horrendous war crime in Mariupol. Massive Russian attack on the Drama Theater where hundreds of innocent civilians were hiding. The building is now fully ruined. Russians could not have not known this was a civilian shelter. Save Mariupol! Stop Russian war criminals! pic.twitter.com/bIQLxe7mli
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 16, 2022
City authorities said they were trying to establish the number of casualties, but the entrance to the bomb shelter under the theatre was blocked by debris.
A statement from Ukraine’s interior ministry on Wednesday said: “It is known that almost 1,000 civilians from Mariupol were hiding in the theatre. The number of dead and wounded is currently unknown. Many Mariupol residents hid in the theatre with small children. This theatre was a shelter in which the inhabitants of besieged Mariupol escaped from continuous shelling.”
Mariupol city council said on Wednesday that the attack “purposefully and cynically destroyed the Drama Theatre”.
It added: “It is impossible to find words to describe the level of cynicism and cruelty with which Russian invaders are destroying peaceful residents of a Ukrainian city by the sea.”
Inna Sovsun, a member of Ukraine’s parliament, said: “They’re all under the rubble, which can’t be dismantled as the shelling continues.”
Russia’s defence ministry on Wednesday denied responsibility for the apparent airstrike.
“Russian aircraft did not perform any tasks related to launching airstrikes on targets within the city limits of Mariupol on March 16,” the Russian military said in a statement.
It also alleged that Ukrainian far-Right nationalists, known as the Azov Battalion, had been keeping civilians inside the theatre hostage and used its upper floors as firing positions.
A few hours before the bombing was reported, several Russian state media outlets warned about a false flag operation in Mariupol by Ukrainian forces.
Violence continues as peace deal nears
Despite Moscow claiming it was “close” to a peace deal, the “cruel” attack on a building in besieged Mariupol came hours after Russians reportedly gunned down and killed a group of 10 Ukrainians who were queuing for bread. The BBC later reported the toll had risen to 13, citing a Ukrainian official.
Separate drone footage this week also appeared to show a civilian being shot by Russian soldiers after he got out of his car and put his hands up.
The incidents are among many now expected to be examined by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, who made a rare visit to a warzone on Wednesday.
During his visit to Kyiv, Karim Khan held a video call with Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, and warned that there would be “zero tolerance” for crimes targeting civilians.
“No person with a gun, or a missile, or a plane, or a mortar has a licence to target civilians. Civilian objects and civilians must be protected,” he added.
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