The National Opera House of Ukraine in Kyiv has reopened for the first time in almost three months following the Russian invasion on February 24.

The theater in the capital city welcomed an audience for an opera program on Saturday.

It was made possible by the return of about 70 percent of its staff to Kyiv.

The theater can seat 1,000 people but the audience was limited to about 300 so that they can evacuate to an underground shelter if an air raid siren blares during a performance.

Tickets were sold out before Saturday for a popular comedy.

Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko told reporters before the performance that he is glad to see an opera being performed again as art is important for people not just to survive but to enjoy life even in a time of war.

Many in the audience were in military uniforms.

Among them was a doctor who said that he had kept on working to help wounded soldiers. He added that he wants to see peace prevail so that people can come to the theater with no fear.

Another member of the audience said she came to the opera to feel that she is alive and that she wants to be free of all the hardships caused by the war.