In photos: Collapsed remains of Mariupol theatre after Russian airstrike

Hundreds of civilians had been taking shelter in Mariupol Drama Theater after their homes were destroyed in three weeks of fighting in the southern port city of 430,000 people.

A satellite image taken Saturday morning show the aftermath of a Russian airstrike on March 16 that blew apart a theatre used as shelter by civilians in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

The U.S. company Maxar, which released the satellite image, said the image focuses on the Mariupol Drama Theater and “the significant damage seen in and around the building.”

The Associated Press reported that hundreds of civilians had been taking shelter in the grand, columned theatre in central Mariupol after their homes were destroyed during three weeks of fighting in the southern port city of 430,000 people.

According to Ukrainian officials, 130 people were rescued from under the rubble of the theatre on Friday, March 18. Ukrainian human rights ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova provided the figures in a televised address Friday but said roughly 1,300 people remain trapped under the wreckage.

Russia has denied bombing the theatre.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday, March 17, that the allegation that Russia had bombed the theatre was a “lie,” and repeated Kremlin denials of targetting civilians during its invasion of Ukraine that began Feb. 24.

Satellite images of the theatre taken on Monday, March 14 — before it was struck — show a large structure with a red roof and the Russian word for “children” painted in large white letters on the tarmac at the front and back.

Mariupol, with its strategic location on the coast of the Sea of Azov, has been a target since the start of the war.