Search On For Survivors Of ‘Bombed' Theatre, Moscow Says Kyiv Is Lying

As Russian forces take heavy losses on the battlefield and increasingly aim bombs and missiles at towns and cities, the toll on civilians in Ukraine is worsening, with children sheltering in a theatre becoming the latest to be killed or feared dead as the war enters its fourth week.

Rescuers on Thursday began pulling some survivors from the wreckage of a theatre in the besieged port city of Mariupol, an adviser to the city’s mayor said, a day after an attack destroyed the building where hundreds of people were believed to be taking shelter. The extent of casualties was unknown as Russian forces continued to shell the area, he said, hampering recovery efforts. In an overnight address, President Volodymyr Zelensky alleged that a Russian aircraft had “purposefully dropped a huge bomb” on the theatre. Russia’s military denied bombing the theatre or anyplace else in Mariupol. Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry, said Kyiv was lying and trying to frame Russia.