About this said Mariupol City Council.
At the site of one of the largest tragedies of the war, the occupiers staged a concert with singing and dancing. The event was attended by the leader of the so-called “DPR” Denis Pushilin, the governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov, the head of the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation, and actor Vladimir Mashkov, who publicly supports the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Photo: Mariupol City Council
The city council emphasizes that this is not a reconstruction, but the actual construction of a new building. In July 2023, the occupation administration ordered the basement of the theater to be filled with concrete, destroying possible traces of the crime. The new building only imitates the destroyed theater: the authentic sculptures have been lost, and the facade, which was previously faced with white Crimean stone, has simply been painted.
The “restoration” of the theater in Mariupol City Council is called a cynical attempt to cover up a war crime and part of the policy of Russification of the city — in particular, due to the repertoire consisting mainly of works by Russian authors. At the same time, despite the official opening, the New Year performances in the new building were canceled, moving them to the Philharmonic without explaining the reasons.
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