Residents of Mariupol receiving humanitarian aid from the Russian army in collaboration with the DPR army. [Source: Photo courtesy of Sonja van den Ende]

[This article is written by a reporter embedded in Ukraine with the Russian army. We believe that if people want to understand the war in Ukraine, they need to read widely about it, from different perspectives, including the Russian one, to try and discern the truth about what is going on for themselves.—Editors]

Where shall I begin?

Can a man endure so much suffering? Can you write about so much suffering without getting emotional?

Probably not.

Mariupol has been wiped out, buildings have collapsed mostly due to rocket attacks and, of course, there have been bombings as well.

Video shows utter devastation in Mariupol, Ukraine
Devastation in Mariupol. [Source: rferl.org]

The Western media, of course, blame the Russians for these bombings, but Ukraine also has planes that drop bombs, so how on earth can you say a few thousand kilometers away that it is the Russians?

It is not like in the West where, when there was a terrorist attack, the perpetrators left their passports or IDs.

This is a war of destruction that I have seen before—in Syria, in Homs. Perhaps also like in Dresden, toward the end of World War II, although, of course, Dresden I cannot verify.

A picture containing outdoor, sky, tree, city

Description automatically generated
Homs, Syria. [Source: theatlantic.com]

The West has turned it into a propaganda war. All the while it sponsors the Ukrainian army and its neo-Nazi battalions.

For years the media ignored the Ukrainian army assaults on the people of Eastern Ukraine, who were forced to survive in underground bunkers.

They act as if the war started in February, when it actually started in 2014 as a war by the Ukrainian government against its own people.

Eight years of destroyed villages and towns—why? Because eastern Ukraine is inhabited by a predominantly Russian-speaking population, who grew up in the Soviet system.

After the 2014 Maidan coup backed by the U.S., they were supposed to become part of the EU and the pro-European “puppet” government in Kyiv. All their values, norms, culture and language had to be thrown overboard.

In order to achieve these ends, first President Petro Poroshenko and then Volodymyr Zelensky, have carried out “special operations” which they called “fighting terrorists.”

Imaginary threat: in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine  accused Russia of preparing a "full-scale military aggression" - Teller  Report
U.S. puppets Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelensky don their war gear. [Source: tellerreport.com]

The Ukrainians started bombing the Donetsk airport and then carried out attacks on the civilian population.

A picture containing sky, outdoor, snow, plane

Description automatically generated
Ruins from Donetsk airport after Ukrainian bombing (Feb, 2015). [Source: channel4.com]

When this did not go as planned, they recruited and made the Azov Battalion and other right-wing groups part of the regular army.

These battalions are indeed neo-Nazis, from father to son they are indoctrinated with the Nazi ideology of the Stepan Bandera cult.

There's One Far-Right Movement That Hates the Kremlin – Foreign Policy
Azov Battalion at ceremony in Kyiv in October 2018. [Source: foreignpolicy.com]

You can compare them to jihadists of ISIS (DAESH), ideologically indoctrinated and fighting on speed or other drugs so, as many witnesses say, they kill civilians randomly.

This is exactly the same script that happened in Syria, where jihadists even cut out the hearts of the Syrian Army soldiers and hung their chopped heads on poles.

The “bombed” city theater

On March 16, 2022, the Donetsk Regional Drama Theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, was allegedly bombed. It was reportedly used as an air raid shelter during the siege of Mariupol, allegedly holding 1,300 civilians in the days before March 16, and at least 300 victims might have been killed.

According to Western media, the theater was bombed by the Russian forces. According to the Russian spokesman and many eyewitness accounts, who lived near the theater, they did not hear any bombardment in their neighborhood and the theater.

Satellite Images Show Destruction of Mariupol Theater Bombed by Russia
Mariupol theater. [Source: businessinsider.com]

So, again, the Western media appear to be lying—blaming Russia for every atrocity in the war without proof, while failing to give any context for how the war started and who is responsible.

The goal is clearly to mobilize public opinion against Russia in support of regime change or even a full-scale war against them.

The partly destroyed theater in Mariupol, not bombed as you can see, but imploded inside from the basement. [Source: Photo courtesy of Sonja van den Ende]

I was given a completely different story about the Mariupol theater “bombing” from a Russian army spokesman whom I interviewed. He said the following:

“According to eyewitnesses, there were about 300 people in the theater, but this cannot be verified, the Ukrainian army and battalions did not keep records of the attendance, so it could be more or less people. The cellars were used as bomb shelters for rocket attacks and bombs. On the day of the destruction, March 16, 2022, according to eyewitnesses, there were no bombings, but heavy rocket attacks. Ammunition and explosives from the Ukrainian army and its battalions were stored in the cellars. The Ukrainian army and battalions heard that the Russians were coming and detonated the explosives in the shelters, where many people still took refuge from the ongoing fighting. This is not new for the Ukrainians to perform such deeds, especially the AZOV battalion, who, just like in Syria at the time of the war, the jihadists were high on drugs, Captagon and speed, which explains their brutality and violent reaction. Same as for these neo-Nazi fighters who are highly infiltrated in the Ukrainian army.”

Inside the theater are photos of previous performances. [Source: Photo courtesy of Sonja van den Ende]
Inside the theater. [Source: Photo courtesy of Sonja van den Ende]
The place where the explosion took place, in the middle of the theater. [Source: Photo courtesy of Sonja van den Ende]

The media in the West, in conjunction with politicians, sell stories to the public, at least half of which I dare to say are fabricated or used from other conflicts.

Mariupol is destroyed and most likely more than half of its inhabitants fled the city, either to the West, to Russia or surrounding villages and towns. Nobody knows at the moment. People are afraid and searching for their relatives, who might have been killed.

As I said earlier, food and water and other humanitarian help is distributed on a daily basis by the Russian army—every day in a different place because, when the Ukrainian army and its Nazi battalions know the place, they will try to shell it and kill the people.

It will take a while before the city can be rebuilt. The Azov steel factory is the last stronghold of the Azov Battalion. The Russian army, as of this writing, is fighting a heavy battle there whose outcome seems foreordained.

bne IntelliNews - VIDEO: Destruction of steel factory in Mariupol
Mariupol steel factory. [Source: intellinews.com]

Everyone is anxiously waiting to see if the NATO command center, which is most likely under the factory, is being dismantled. Whether a biological (one of many) laboratory is really located under the Azov steel factory, we will soon see. I will definitely report on it again.

Inside the city near the theater. [Source: Photo courtesy of Sonja van den Ende]

CovertAction Magazine is made possible by subscriptionsorders and donations from readers like you.

Blow the Whistle on U.S. Imperialism

Click the whistle and donate

When you donate to CovertAction Magazine, you are supporting investigative journalism. Your contributions go directly to supporting the development, production, editing, and dissemination of the Magazine.

CovertAction Magazine does not receive corporate or government sponsorship. Yet, we hold a steadfast commitment to providing compensation for writers, editorial and technical support. Your support helps facilitate this compensation as well as increase the caliber of this work.

Please make a donation by clicking on the donate logo above and enter the amount and your credit or debit card information.

CovertAction Institute, Inc. (CAI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and your gift is tax-deductible for federal income purposes. CAI’s tax-exempt ID number is 87-2461683.

We sincerely thank you for your support.


Disclaimer: The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the author(s). CovertAction Institute, Inc. (CAI), including its Board of Directors (BD), Editorial Board (EB), Advisory Board (AB), staff, volunteers and its projects (including CovertAction Magazine) are not responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. This article also does not necessarily represent the views the BD, the EB, the AB, staff, volunteers, or any members of its projects.

Differing viewpoints: CAM publishes articles with differing viewpoints in an effort to nurture vibrant debate and thoughtful critical analysis. Feel free to comment on the articles in the comment section and/or send your letters to the Editors, which we will publish in the Letters column.

Copyrighted Material: This web site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. As a not-for-profit charitable organization incorporated in the State of New York, we are making such material available in an effort to advance the understanding of humanity’s problems and hopefully to help find solutions for those problems. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. You can read more about ‘fair use’ and US Copyright Law at the Legal Information Institute of Cornell Law School.

Republishing: CovertAction Magazine (CAM) grants permission to cross-post CAM articles on not-for-profit community internet sites as long as the source is acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original CovertAction Magazine article. Also, kindly let us know at info@CovertActionMagazine.com. For publication of CAM articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: info@CovertActionMagazine.com.

By using this site, you agree to these terms above.


About the Author

18 COMMENTS

  1. I found a video on you tube of Sonja interviewing the ”Mayor of Mariupol” but actually it was just someone pretending to be the Mayor. This fake mayor said that the Ukranians were responsible for the atrocities in Mariupol. .

    • The media is so bought it’s incredible. Russia had no desire to “take” western Ukraine; they feinted just as they did against the Wehrmacht, then turned east to what really concerns them. Why would you post this junk on Covert Action Magazine?

    • The announcer’s first sentence is a whopper. He calls Russia’s move to restore peace to Ukraine after eight years of US war an “unprovoked attack”!

  2. It is not entirely true that the Western Media is reporting events from several thousand kilometers away. Many members of the Western Media have bravely gone to dangerous areas of Ukraine to report what is happening taking risks that I personally would not have the courage to take. So a lot of the reporting comes from reporters who are on the ground in Ukraine.

  3. UM…There wouldn’t have been people IN the theater watching a play, with all the fighting going on, right? So that makes no sense.

Leave a Reply