This medal commemorates one of the most tragic events in the history of the brutal crimes committed by the russian army against civilians in Ukraine. The crime was committed at the Mariupol Drama Theater, which in the spring of 2022 was filled not with an audience, but with hundreds of Mariupol residents who were hiding there from russian bombs and shelling. But the enemy, disregarding the laws of war, purposefully dropped an extremely powerful aerial bomb on the theater on 16 March, killing hundreds of people – mostly women, children and the elderly – who were buried under the rubble of the theater. We will not forget!

Obverse: against a smooth background are Ukraine’s small coat of arms, the vertical legend УКРАЇНА (Ukraine) (beneath, to the left) and the medal’s issue year – 20/23 (to the right); in the center against the smooth background of the outline of the Virgin Mary, holding an omophorion in her outstretched arms, is a non-canonical image of the Virgin, who is covering her face with her hands out of grief and despair; tears, which become bigger towards the bottom, are flowing from under her palms; above, on both sides of the figure, against a matt background symbolizing the damage done to the city, are the following legends: МІСТО (city) (to the left) МАРІЇ (of Mariia) (to the right); beneath, to the right is the mint mark of the NBU’s Banknote Printing and Minting Works.

Reverse: there is the following stylized composition: against a smooth background symbolizing the explosion of an aerial bomb, the theater building is shown as a target; in front of the facades of the theater the word “CHILDREN” is written in large letters in Russian; there are the following semicircular legends: МАРІУПОЛЬСЬКИЙ (Mariupol) (above, to the left) and ДРАМТЕАТР (Drama Theater) (beneath, to the right).