Air bombardment of a theater in Mariupol

Date of the event

15.03.2022

Venue

the city of Mariupol

The Mariupol Drama Theater was used as a bomb shelter for civilians. It was hit by an air strike, as a result of which about a thousand people became trapped inside. The exact number of victims is unknown, but according to some reports it could have reached several hundred.

Legal qualification

in accordance with Art. 8 sec. 2(b)(i) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted on 17 July 1998 at Rome; With regard to war crimes, the above incident is a war crime that can be classified as other serious violations of the laws and customs of international law applicable to armed conflicts of an international character, namely: (ix) Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives; (i) Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities; (ii) Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, that is, objects which are not military objectives;