March 16 was an anniversary of something that should never have happened, but that no one should forget when they think about Mariupol and the history of the war. It was on March 16, 2022, that Russia decided to drop two 500-pound bombs on the theater in Mariupol, despite the word “children” painted in front of and behind the building in huge, visible-from-the-air letters. It is estimated 300-600 people were killed because of that action. (Curiously, the government of Ukraine was the one making the lower estimate; the higher number comes from external, largely-impartial sources.)
I never had the opportunity to go inside, but it was a pretty imposing building from the outside:
The AP has an article with plenty of video and photos to show what it looked like last May — AP evidence points to 600 dead in Mariupol theater airstrike (apnews.com). It probably doesn’t look any better today, but since the Russians erected a huge screen around it to block view of what’s happening now, it’s hard to say: Mariupol theatre demolished ‘to hide Russian crimes’, aide says (bbc.com).
That was the injury, now here’s the insult: Putin decided to pay the city a visit. He flew in at night and drove to a few places in the dark, when a curfew was in place so that “extra” security measures didn’t need to be taken. A few propaganda photos here and there, and he was gone again. Putin drove through occupied Mariupol at night, – Russian media. VIDEO (0629.com.ua). I’m sure there was nothing coincidental about the timing of the visit.
Probably the only coincidental thing was that the International Criminal Court had issued an arrest warrant for Putin only a couple days before. While it wasn’t for his orders regarding the bombing of Mariupol or the theater, the publishing of the Mariupol City website still think the crimes committed in Mariupol will play a role: Mariupol will help Putin get to The Hague – VIDEO (0629.com.ua)
[There’s a poll at the bottom of that last article with some interesting numbers. The question is whether people are thinking about returning and/or planning to return to Mariupol. 49.9% (as of today) responded that they are still planning to return as soon as it is safe. 11.3% say they’re gone for good, and 16.7% say they’d like to return but don’t see how that’s possible.]
UPDATE (3/19/2023 9:35 p.m. PST): The BBC has some additional information about the visit: Putin in Mariupol: What the Russian president saw on his visit (bbc.com). It appears the tour included some of the most heinous crimes committed during the siege of Mariupol (the theater, the maternity hospital, etc.). The article references Myru Avenue, which is where the family apartments were located; from the map in the article, it looks like Putin drove right by the building. (Also, I think that Myru [also spelled Mira, meaning ‘world’] has since gone back to it’s old name, Lenina… at least, according to the occupiers.)