Russian authorities reopened the Mariupol theater, site of a March 2022 Russian bombing that killed an estimated 600 civilians, as a Russian theater director dismissed criticism by stating, 'Aren't Berlin, Paris & Warsaw built on someone else's bones?' according to Euromaidan Press in an article published December 29, 2025, over the past hour. Workers used chlorine bleach to mask the smell of decaying bodies during reconstruction, with Russia attributing the odor to 'rotting fish,' the report stated. The theater, where the word 'CHILDREN' was painted on the ground visible to pilots yet bombed anyway, now hosts a Christmas tree inside and stages children's fairy tales. The reopening serves as a statement to the world amid ongoing controversy over the 2022 attack, as detailed in the Euromaidan Press article linked in a Bluesky post by @euromaidanpress.bsky.social during the reporting window from 6:15 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. UTC.
