Mariupol: Inside Russia’s Massive War Crime - with James Verini

About this episode

This episode analyzes the war crime committed by the Russian army in Mariupol, featuring insights from journalist James Verini.

On March 16, 2022, the Russian army committed one of the gravest war crimes of its invasion of Ukraine. It dropped air bombs on the Mariupol Drama Theatre, knowing that around a thousand civilians were sheltering inside, seeking refuge from Russian shelling. It did so despite the huge inscriptions reading “Children” — written in Russian on both sides of the theatre — clearly visible from the air as a warning to any potential bomber. In this episode, we analyse this crime with the help of a journalist who spent several years speaking with dozens of survivors. You are listening to the Explaining Ukraine podcast. *** Explaining Ukraine is a podcast by UkraineWorld, an English-language media outlet run by Internews Ukraine. Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, Chief Editor of UkraineWorld, and President of PEN Ukraine. Guest: James Verini, an American journalist and book writer who wrote for The New York Times and other papers. He recently published a book, The Theater: Courage and Survival in the Defining Atrocity of the Ukraine War. The book was published this year by Simon & Schuster. Link to the book…

People in this episode

Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko

Guest: James Verini

Topics covered

• war crimes
• Mariupol
• survivor stories
• journalism
• Ukraine conflict

Keywords

• Mariupol
• war crime
• James Verini
• Ukraine
• theatre bombing
• survivors
• journalism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: UkraineWorld, Internews Ukraine, Simon & Schuster

Books & works: The Theater: Courage and Survival in the Defining Atrocity of the Ukraine War

Places: Mariupol

More episodes of Explaining Ukraine

• Greece, Ukraine, Communism, War, Europe - with Christos Chomenidis · June 10, 2026 · 41 min
• Foreign Fighters in Ukraine: What Are Their Stories? - with Colin Freeman · May 28, 2026 · 36 min
• How Russians Are Erasing Life in Ukraine’s South - with Zarina Zabrisky · May 13, 2026 · 52 min
• Why Europe must fix its defence now - with Moritz Schularick · May 7, 2026 · 44 min
• How Russia can be defeated - with Lesia Ogryzko · April 29, 2026 · 43 min
• Odesa in love and war - with Julian Evans · April 23, 2026 · 42 min