An investigation from Amnesty International concluded that Russia’s March 16 strike that hit a theater acting as a shelter for civilians was a “clear war crime.”
The organization released the findings of its investigation on Thursday, which included that the theater was the intended target despite having the word “children” carved into the ground on two sides of the property in Russian. Amnesty International found that the attack was “almost certainly carried out” by Russian fighter aircraft that dropped two 1,000-pound bombs that struck near one another and detonated simultaneously.
UN REPORT DETAILS ALLEGED WAR CRIMES BY RUSSIAN TROOPS IN UKRAINE
At least a dozen people were killed in the strike, four of whom the group identified as Mykhailo Hrebenetskyi, Lubov Svyrydova, Olena Kuznetsova, and Ihor Chystiakov. The report noted that the death toll could be higher but not as high as initially expected.
“After months of rigorous investigation, analysis of satellite imagery and interviews with dozens of witnesses, we concluded that the strike was a clear war crime committed by Russian forces,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general. “Many people were injured and killed in this merciless attack. Their deaths were likely caused by Russian forces deliberately targeting Ukrainian civilians.”
“The International Criminal Court and all others with jurisdiction over crimes committed during this conflict must investigate this attack as a war crime,” she added. “All those responsible must be held accountable for causing such death and destruction.”
The report included firsthand accounts from Ukrainians who were nearby at the time of the March 16 strike.
“In a second, everything changed. Everything jumped up. … People started screaming. It was full of dust,” a woman in her late teenage years who had been sheltering in the theater at the time of the strike told Amnesty International. “I saw people bleeding. We grabbed our documents and left. … Some people were not as lucky.”
Hrebenetskyi’s son said, “There were many injured people. … There were police trying to pull people out of the rubble. … At first, I saw [Mykhailo’s] arm. First, I saw a familiar hand. You know the hand of your loved ones. His face was covered with blood. His body was covered with bricks. … I didn’t want my mom to see.”
Investigators concluded that the evidence “strongly suggests that the theater was the intended target” due to the “presence of numerous civilians” prior to the attack, in addition to the location of the strike. None of the witnesses or survivors whom investigators interviewed said the Ukrainian military was secretly using the theater for fighting purposes.
Russia’s military has been accused of deliberately and indiscriminately targeting civilians during the war, which is now in its fifth month. Some of their most heinous attacks faced immediate condemnation from Ukrainian and Western leaders — the attack on the theater being one of them.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Other major attacks include this week’s bombing at the Kremenchuk mall, where more than 1,000 civilians were located, an April missile strike on a train station in Kramatorsk that killed at least 50 people, and an airstrike that hit a maternity hospital in Mariupol in March.
A new report from the United Nations, released on Wednesday, accused the Russian military of engaging in sexual violence, arbitrary detention, and attacking about 230 schools, 182 medical facilities, and 72 houses of worship.
