Russia Reopens Historic Theater in Mariupol

The process of renovating the Mariupol Drama Theatre. (Wikimedia Commons/Vadim Tolbatov)

JAKARTA - A historic theater founded in 1887 and destroyed by a bombing of the city of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine in 2022, reopened after a major renovation, according to a Russian authorities announcement.

A special ceremony and performance by actors from Mariupol and the Russian city of Saint Petersburg was held on Sunday, with Russian television showing images of the gala event as well as the theater's reconstructed marble stairs and columns, and a 2.5-ton crystal chandelier hanging in the auditorium.

"The Mariupol Drama Theater has reopened its doors to the audience" after three years of reconstruction, said Denis Puchilin, the pro-Russian leader in the Donetsk region that includes the city, as reported by Al Arabiya from AFP (29/12).

"The historic image" of the theater has been restored with a carved facade and "the highest level of modern equipment", he added in a comment on Telegram.

The former imperial capital of Russia, Saint Petersburg, was a major contributor to the restoration, sending workers and architects to Mariupol, according to Saint Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov.

Beglov, who was present among 500 spectators on Sunday, called the redevelopment project a "matter of honor".

Russian forces entered the Black Sea coastal city of Mariupol in the first months of their 2022 invasion and imposed a brutal siege for nearly three months that resulted in thousands of deaths - 8,000 according to Human Rights Watch, and 22,000 according to Ukraine's exiled city council.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International said at least 12 people were killed in the theater bombing.

The city on the Sea of Azov was devastated and some 300,000 of its 540,000 pre-conflict residents fled. The United Nations said 90 percent of buildings were destroyed or damaged in the siege.

Since then, Russia has sought to make Mariupol a symbol of new prosperity in the Ukrainian territory it controls.

In September 2022, Russia announced the annexation of four Ukrainian regions - Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia - although it does not fully control the territory.