"It’s all make-believe": invaders accuse pregnant woman in Mariupol of staging photos at the bombed maternity hospital site

Kateryna Horoschak, Daria Poperechna – Friday, 11 March 2022

Russia is spreading fake news that the bombing of the maternity hospital in Mariupol and the photographs of the pregnant women in the building are staged, and the role of one pregnant woman was performed by beauty-blogger Marianna Pidhurska.

Now Russians are harassing this woman on social networks. Allegedly, this is all a performance, and the blogger has been handsomely remunerated.

Ukrainska Pravda explains the convoluted lies of the Russian propagandists about the bombing of the maternity hospital in Mariupol.

On 9 March, the occupying forces dropped several bombs on the children’s and maternity hospital in Mariupol. At least 17 people were injured, including pregnant women. 

The tragedy was documented by photographers Yevgen Maloletka and Mstyslav Chernov. Some of their pictures captured the pregnant blogger Marianna Pidhurska from Mariupol.

Russian media called these photos staged. Allegedly, all of the pregnant women have long been evacuated from the maternity hospital, and the building was instead occupied by the Azov battalion fighters who have set up their firing point there.

This outright lie was shared not only by the mass media, but even Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov and the Russian Embassy in the UK. The Embassy’s post was later removed from Twitter.

Igor Konashenkov, the official representative of Russia’s Ministry of Defence, stated that "two explosions were staged near maternity hospital no. 3 in Mariupol." He called the air strike "a completely manufactured provocation to foment anti-Russian sentiments among the Western audiences."

But it is clear from the blogger’s Instagram profile that she is indeed pregnant. She published her first post about pregnancy – already in the late stages of pregnancy – on 25 January.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mariupol City Council and City Police have all reported about the airstrike on the maternity hospital.

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko called the bombing "genocide" perpetrated by the Russian occupiers.

The Russian fake news about the "staged photo" is also refuted by the Centre for the Prevention of Disinformation at the National Security and Defence Council.

After the photos and the fake information were shared, the girl’s Instagram account was trolled by the Russian users’ angry comments.

They accuse Marianna of allegedly accepting money for taking part in a staged performance, and call the wounds she inflicted in the airstrike "make-up."

Those who believe this Russian fake news are also suspicious about the photos from the site of the incident. The woman allegedly appears suspiciously often in the news about the bombing of the maternity hospital in Mariupol.

The woman has been supported by Ukrainian Instagram users who are urging her not to read the negative comments and they wish her and her child good health.

"Russians are mocking Marianna on Instagram. She is one of the women from Mariupol’s maternity hospital, which was bombed by Russians. Her face has appeared in the media all over the world today. If you can write some words of support to her, it would be a good thing to do. We will pass your comments on to her," Oleksandra Matviychuk, head of the Civil liberties centre, wrote on Twitter.

"I checked the Instagram of that woman from Mariupol and saw that instead of unanimous harassment, there is now unanimous support," Halyna Herasym wrote on Facebook.

Ukrainska Pravda also tried to contact the woman on social media, but she has not responded so far.