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Russian planes bombed a clinic in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 9, killing three persons and injuring at minimum 17, such as two pregnant ladies viewed in pictures shared around the environment. Social media posts falsely claimed 1 woman “posed” as the two gals. One particular of the females died of her accidents, alongside with her toddler the other gave birth to a daughter.
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After numerous days of bombardment of the southern Ukrainian port town of Mariupol, Russian warplanes struck a maternity healthcare facility on March 9, killing a few, such as a baby, and injuring at least 17 folks.
An unknown pregnant female found in commonly shared photos being carried away on a stretcher later died of her accidents, along with her child.
A further girl viewed in images from the bombing was social media influencer Marianna Podgurskaya. Podgurskaya was photographed bloodied and wrapped in a blanket descending a flight of stairs at the broken medical center. She was transferred to yet another clinic, where she gave birth on March 10 to a daughter.
Podgurskaya’s Instagram account displays pictures of her pregnant, posted just before the bombing, and the Linked Push has dispersed a photo of her with her newborn, Veronika.
Still photos of Podgurskaya and the woman who died were misrepresented in social media posts in Russia and somewhere else to falsely assert Podgurskaya was a compensated crisis actor who posed as two various pregnant gals.
A Facebook write-up from an account identified as Rick Pickle claimed the pics are “indisputable proof of the output of ‘shots with pregnant women of all ages,’ which is the responsibility of Ukrainian troll propagandists and their Polish media instructors.” The put up claimed “the design Marianna … posed for the picture shoots in the ruins of the clinic.” It suggests she improved garments and used pretend blood to show up to be a 2nd expecting female.
The disinformation campaign about the Mariupol bombing started trending on Russian Telegram, according to BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh, and was repeated in a tweet from the Russian embassy in the U.K. The embassy explained Podgurskaya “has some very sensible makeup” and could not have been at the hospital mainly because it experienced been cleared. Twitter subsequently taken out the posts.
Russian officers sought to downplay the attack. International Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed the healthcare facility experienced not been operational and was getting applied by Ukrainian troops.
Mariupol has been 1 of the hardest hit Ukrainian cities due to the fact Russian troops entered the region 3 weeks ago.
Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s place of work, said that extra than 2,500 folks experienced died in Mariupol as a outcome of Russian bombing, CNN reported.
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Sources
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