However, hundreds of women and children remain trapped under the rubble. Only 130 of more than 1,300 people thought to have taken shelter in the building before the strike had been rescued, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, said on Friday. He promised to continue attempting to save people from the ruins. 

One woman said Wednesday’s air strike had taken place while those sheltering beneath the theatre were cooking. “There were 800 people. They were cooking something inside. And when the stage collapsed only about 100 ran away,” she said.

Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, said rescuers were still trying to reach over 1,000 people in the theatre’s basement.

“In Mariupol, the release of civilians from the rubble of the drama theatre has begun,” she said in a statement on Telegram. “The building withstood the impact of a high-powered air bomb and protected the lives of people hiding in the bomb shelter. Work is under way to unlock the basement.”

However, Ms Denisova said there was no information about the dead or wounded trapped under the rubble. Russian forces are thought to have been aware that the building contained children.