KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities in the besieged ruins of Mariupol say that about 300 people died when a Russian airstrike blew up a theater where hundreds of civilians were sheltering.
If confirmed, that catastrophic loss of civilian life could to further crank up pressure on Western nations to step up military aid.
The death toll for the March 16 attack came in a post on the city government’s Telegram channel Friday that cited eyewitnesses.
It was not immediately clear whether emergency workers had finished excavating the theater ruins or how witnesses arrived at the horrific figure of lives lost.
