Photos: Evacuated Pregnant Woman or Beauty Blogger? The ‘Loudest Incident’ of the Russo-Ukrainian War

Ukrainian media are circulating photos depicting women being evacuated from "a children’s hospital in Mariupol after a bombing."  

"The loudest incident that western media rushed to cover was the alleged strike on the maternity hospital in Mariupol with a Russian missile. The images of a pregnant woman being evacuated from the bombed building are unlikely to leave anyone indifferent. However, it turned out that the girl is actually a well-known Ukrainian beauty blogger. The photos were taken not by first responders or military personnel arriving at the scene of the emergency, but rather by a photographer working for the American Associated Press news agency," wrote Российская Газета.

According to the site, the pregnant woman visible in the photos is actually Ukrainian beauty blogger Marianna Podgurskaya. "Moreover, it is quite possible that Marianna played the roles of several pregnant women, simply changing her appearance several times. The faces of the other pregnant women are not visible in the photos. The hair and other characteristic features also closely resemble those of blogger Podgurskaya," the site added.

Incidentally, the NEXTA Live Telegram channel reports that Twitter deleted posts from the Russian Embassy in Britain claiming that the photo of the pregnant woman being evacuated from the bombed maternity hospital in Mariupol is staged. The channel also published a photocopy.