No Evidence Of Airstrike At Mariupol Drama Theater, Blast Occurred Inside - Investigators - UrduPoint

An investigation into the March explosion at the Mariupol drama theater revealed that no airstrike occurred and the blast was initiated inside, a Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) investigator told Sputnik.

"The materials of the criminal case, interrogations of eyewitnesses, examinations indicate that the explosion in the building of the drama theater took place inside. During the analysis of the rubble in the building of the drama theater, not a single damaging element, not a single part or element of an air bomb, or any other ammunition was found," Aleksei Kutsurbenko said.

In March, Ukraine claimed that a Russian airstrike leveled a drama theater in Mariupol that was allegedly being used as a bomb shelter.

The allegations were dismissed by the Russian Defense Ministry. Kutsurbenko told Sputnik that Kiev's claims are "a lie and a fake."

"We conclude that, most likely, there was an explosion inside the building of some kind of shellless explosive device. We have evidence in the materials of the criminal case that shortly before the explosion, a few days, some boxes were brought into the drama theater by persons in military uniform. We assume that these boxes may have detonated," the DPR investigator told Sputnik.