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New Ukrainian Film “Reckoning” Responds to Russia’s Reopening of Mariupol Drama Theater
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces have presented a new short film titled Reckoning, created by the Resistance Movement operating in temporarily occupied territories.
According to the SOF press service, the film was released in direct response to Russia’s decision to reopen the Mariupol Drama Theater—a building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in March 2022 while hundreds of civilians were sheltering inside.
Reckoning follows a Ukrainian musician living under Russian occupation in Mariupol, portrayed by Ukrainian artist Marian Pyro. The character represents civilians who remain in occupied cities while continuing to resist—quietly, culturally, and politically.
The final scene delivers a clear symbolic message: in a fictional sequence, the Ukrainian resistance eliminates Russian leader Vladimir Putin during his staged visit to the “restored” theater. The SOF stressed that the scene is purely artistic, underscoring inevitability of accountability rather than depicting real events.
According to the SOF, Reckoning aims to counter this narrative by reminding audiences that reconstruction without justice is propaganda, not recovery.
The Mariupol Drama Theater has become one of the most documented civilian massacre sites of Russia’s invasion. Reopening it without acknowledging responsibility has been widely criticized by Ukrainian officials and international observers as an attempt to erase war crimes through staged cultural events.
The film is the sixth release in the SOF Resistance Movement’s ongoing series focused on life and resistance in temporarily occupied territories. The project was created in cooperation with Ukraine’s National Guard unit “Khartiia” and the Cultural Forces of Ukraine, involving prominent Ukrainian writers and musicians.
According to the SOF press service, the core message of the film is simple: reckoning is unavoidable—even if delayed.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy compared Russia’s reconstruction of Mariupol to its postwar rebuilding of Grozny, saying the effort aims to conceal evidence of mass killings and destruction. In an interview with Il Foglio, he noted that as many as 20,000 people may have been killed during the siege, with thousands still missing and many buried under the rubble.
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