Testimonies

Oleksandr Rubets

Oksana Mazina

Viktoriia Dubovytska

Mariia Rodionova

Olha Korniichuk

Dmytro Murantsev

Oleksandr Myronenko

Vitalii Tsesar

Yelyzaveta Fatieieva

Ihor Navka

Yevheniia Zabohonska

Serhii Zabohonskyi

Our team identified sixty eyewitnesses of the events, out of which twenty-seven agreed to talk to us on record.

We invited ten witnesses to participate in further interview sessions using the “situated testimony” technique developed by our partnering organization, Forensic Architecture. This collaborative reconstruction process allowed survivors to ‘walk’ through the virtual space and model different aspects of the building as they remembered it. This process facilitated recollection and helped our team to fill in missing details in the digital models. As each witness recalled their part in this complex event, the model became an increasingly rich assemblage of collective memory.

We are grateful to all witnesses who contributed to this project, whose memories, drawings, models, photos, and videos helped us document and analyze the events that took place in the theater during the siege of Mariupol.

Spatial models

From the first weeks of work on the project, we began to digitally reconstruct the events in the theater around a virtual architectural model of the theater space. The first 3D models of the interior were made based on archival drawings, and models of the exterior of the theater before and after the explosion were made using photogrammetry.¹

Photogrammetry is a method that converts two-dimensional photos into three-dimensional models by capturing images from multiple angles. Below is our photogrammetric model of the theater featured on Japanese news channel ANN.

The Mariupol Drama Theater was initially constructed according to a standardized architectural design, based on which several other theaters have been built throughout Ukraine. Our team traveled to Poltava, where a theater nearly identical to the Mariupol one is located. We scanned the building in three dimensions and walked through it to get a sense of place and scale.

Memories can come as testimonies or as precious photos and videos recorded by witnesses. Our spatial models bring together different kinds of memories, both human and videographic. We used the model as a backdrop for situated testimonies and later to locate visual materials documenting the theater during the siege and after its occupation.

Drawing of the facade of the theater. © V. G. Zabolotny State Scientific Architectural and Construction Library

Fragment of the plan of the first floor of the theater. © V. G. Zabolotny State Scientific Architectural and Construction Library

Spatial model of the theater built on the basis of original drawings. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

Photorgametry of the interior spaces of the theater after the Russian airstrike. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

Photorgametry of the theater before its destruction, made on the basis of a video provided by Skeiron ©Center for Spatial Technologies

Photogrammetry of the theater after the Russian airstrike, made on the basis of Reuters footage. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

Four theaters built according to one typical project by O. O. Krylova and O. O. Malyshenko 1952-1958. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

Model of the theater in Poltava, made using 3D scanning. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

3D scan of the auditorium of the theater in Poltava. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

3D scan of the second floor of the theater lobby in Poltava. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

3D scan of the stage space of the theater in Poltava. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

The spatial model is used to locate photographs in the theater hall. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

The spatial model is used to locate photos in the theater lobby. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

Photo of the destroyed space of the stage, located relative to the spatial model of the theater. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

Witness Oleksandr Rubets interacts with the spatial model of the theater. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

Visual materials

In analyzing images and videos recorded by witnesses, we tuned to their minute details. Our team split the videos frame-by-frame, built them into panoramas, and arranged photos into timelines and collections. In this way, each image has been instrumental in establishing a relationship between the different kinds of accounts and filling in the gaps between them.

Splitting the video into separate frames. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

Compilation of frames from a video into a panorama. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

Collection of photos by thematic categories. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

Working with video fragments to determine the number of people in the corridor of the theater lobby. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

Organization of media materials on the map. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

Viewing videos shot by a witness as part of a spatial interview. ©Center for Spatial Technologies

Essays

Essay by Ksenia Rybak

A City Within a Building

Essay by Ksenia Rybak

Russian airstrike

Essay by Svitlana Matviyenko

Terror environment

We have extensively discussed archival practices and the issues related to publishing raw materials online.

As our goal extends beyond merely gathering materials, we have set out to analyze them and reflect on these events through writing, weaving in visual documents, quotes from witnesses, and expert findings into text. Three essays explore the theater's role as a shelter and analyze the aftermath of the attack. They detail the terror inflicted by the Russians on the city of Mariupol and the inhabitants of the theater during the siege and also reflect on the occupying forces' attempts to obscure their war crimes.

Expert Reports

by ECCHR

Legal assessment

by Gareth Collett

Explosion analysis

CST has commissioned two expert reports to complement this study. The first, by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), provides legal analysis, concluding that the Russian attack on the theater likely constitutes a war crime. The second, authored by defense consultant Gareth Collett, details a technical analysis of the explosion and suggests the type of weapon that was most likely used against this civilian shelter.

Our research position

Our focus on witness testimonies aligns with our stance as researchers engaged in the broader discourses of human rights and memory practices. Recognizing our engaged, war-affected perspectives, we embrace methodologies that reject detached neutrality. Instead, we advocate for situatedness, partiality, and empathy with our fellow Ukrainians. Respecting the vulnerability of witness recollection, personal and collective trauma, and insisting on ground truth and accountability are central to our research ethos.

Beyond documenting these specific events as civilians experienced them on the ground, this work aims to foster solidarity with all victims of military violence and its impunity.

Credits

This study is conducted by the Center for Spatial Technologies (CST) in collaboration with Forensis & Forensic Architecture. We were working with numerous external contributors to make this project happen. Full credits here.

Core CST team: Maksym Rokmaniko, Mykola Holovko, Daryna Vilkhova, Ksenia Rybak, Valeria Prorizna, Andrii Onyshchenko, Oksana Hrabchak, Sasha Zakrevska, Natasha Pereverzina, Herman Mitish, Orest Yaremchuk