Gilded Grave: Photographers Capture Interior Of Rebuilt Mariupol Theater
- By RFE/RL
A Ukrainian theater infamously struck by Russian missiles in 2022 held a reopening ceremony on December 28, while much of the rest of Russian-occupied Mariupol remains in ruins.
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Police at the entrance to the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theater.
The theater held a ceremony on December 28 to reopen, though theatrical performances will be held in a separate facility nearby.
Russian authorities have controlled the southeastern Ukrainian city since capturing it in May 2022 after a brutal siege.
The theater held a ceremony on December 28 to reopen, though theatrical performances will be held in a separate facility nearby.
Russian authorities have controlled the southeastern Ukrainian city since capturing it in May 2022 after a brutal siege.
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A woman walks through the facility on the night of the reopening ceremony.
The building has been fundamentally changed during the rebuild, in which the ruined theater was razed nearly to the ground.
The building has been fundamentally changed during the rebuild, in which the ruined theater was razed nearly to the ground.
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A foyer of the rebuilt theater on December 28.
Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed inside the theater after it was hit by a Russian air strike in March 2022 despite a large sign written on the pavement outside saying “Children.”
Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed inside the theater after it was hit by a Russian air strike in March 2022 despite a large sign written on the pavement outside saying “Children.”
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The stage of the rebuilt theater.
Old photos show the decor and layout have been fundamentally changed inside the building.
Old photos show the decor and layout have been fundamentally changed inside the building.
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This photo, taken in early February 2022, just before Russia's full-scale invasion, shows a portion of the theater’s stage before the infamous air strike.
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The theater photographed in February 2022, three weeks before the Russian invasion.
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A satellite view of the theater after it was destroyed by a Russian air strike on March 16, 2022. Hundreds of people were reportedly sheltering in the building when the strike occurred.
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A section of the theater’s ruins in February 2023, after it was fenced off, and reconstruction work had begun in the Russian-held Ukrainian city. Locals allege the bodies of many killed in the Russian strike were entombed under the building as it was rebuilt.
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Workers rebuilding the theater in January 2025. The reconstruction is widely viewed by locals as a propaganda showpiece in a city where large swathes of infrastructure remain in ruins.
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A rotating stage being built inside the theater in October 2025.
“The point of this is to make sure that in people's memory this tragedy, in which civilians died, simply never took place,” Konstantin Batozsky, the founder of the Azov Development Agency said. “You don't see a bombed theater, therefore it never happened."
“The point of this is to make sure that in people's memory this tragedy, in which civilians died, simply never took place,” Konstantin Batozsky, the founder of the Azov Development Agency said. “You don't see a bombed theater, therefore it never happened."
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In areas around the theater, recent photos show prestige monuments, such as this war memorial photographed in February 2024, have been rebuilt, while much of the city’s infrastructure remains in ruins.
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A section of the Azovstal steel plant in Russian-occupied Mariupol photographed in May 2024.
According to the UN, some 90 percent of residential buildings in Mariupol were destroyed or damaged during the three-month siege of the city before it was captured by Russian forces.
According to the UN, some 90 percent of residential buildings in Mariupol were destroyed or damaged during the three-month siege of the city before it was captured by Russian forces.
