The dramatic structure of Mariupol: they claim that Russia is looking for survivors in the theater where it was attacked, and shelter remains

A bomb shelter located under a theater in the besieged city of Mariupol resisted Ukraine's claim to be a Russian air strike, and survivors were supposedly trapped under it, a representative of the mayor's office said on Thursday.

Ukraine accused Russian troops of dropping powerful bombs on theaters on Wednesday, and said hundreds of civilians, including many children, were taking refuge for more than two weeks during a siege over a fenced port city.

Russia refused to bombard theaters.

“The bomb shelter has been opened. The debris is now being removed. There are survivors, and we still don't know the number of victims.” The adviser of Mayor Petro Andrushchenko told Reuters by phone.

Ukrainian MP Dmytro Gurin, whose parents were locked up in the city, confirmed to the BBC that the bomb shelter survived: “A few minutes ago we received information that the bomb shelter survived and that the people who were there survived.” He told the channel.

According to Andrushchenko, rescue efforts were underway to reach out to survivors and establish the number of victims, which is still unknown. Ukrainian MP Sergiy Taruta, former governor of the Donetsk region where Mariupol is located, later said on Facebook that some people escaped the building, but did not elaborate.

Andreuschenko said that up to 1,000 people had been evacuated there. However, he accused him of hindering recovery efforts by Russian troops that continue to bomb the city.

Images released by the Mariupol City Hall (Mariupol City Hall) showed an entire section of the three-story Grand Theater, which was demolished after Wednesday night's attack. Hundreds of people took refuge from a suffocating Russian siege against the strategic port city of the Sea of Azov (Sea of Azov) that began three weeks ago.

According to the images distributed by the space technology company Maxar, at least from Monday, on the pavement outside the elegant theater, there were large letters that formed the word “CHILD” in Russian.

Maria Zakharova, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said on Thursday that the accusation of Russia's bombing of theaters was a “lie.”

He reiterated that the Kremlin denied the fact that Russian troops attacked civilian areas after the invasion of Ukraine on February 24. He said at a press conference that “Russian troops do not bomb villages and cities,” despite the growing evidence of opposition.

(Including information from Reuters and AP)

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Ukraine reported that there were more than a thousand refugees in the Mariupol Theater who destroyed the Russian army.