Ukrainian authorities said Friday that about 300 people died when a Russian aircraft bombarded a theater in the besieged city of Mariupol nine days ago, where hundreds of civilians were said to be seeking shelter from the hostilities. The Mariupol City Council cited eyewitnesses in providing the casualty count in a statement on its Telegram channel, which described the March 16 bombing of Mariupol’s Drama Theater as an act of “inhuman cruelty.” For days, the authorities in Mariupol were unable to provide a casualty count for the alleged Russian attack. Sergei Orlov, the deputy mayor of Mariupol, told the BBC a day after the incident that between 1,000 and 1,200 people had sought refuge in the building, while local Member of Parliament Dmytro Gurin told the outlet that “most” of them had survived. Russia has denied bombing the Drama Theater. The Kremlin’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, told Sky News that …