Russian embassy claims injured pregnant woman pictured after hospital bombing was ‘wearing realistic make-up’

Tweet by Russian embassy called “fake news” by culture secretary

Russia has claimed photographs of the Mariupol maternity hospital bombing were staged and that a pregnant woman pictured injured was just wearing "realistic make-up" in its latest attempt to spread disinformation.

The country’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov claimed on Thursday that Ukrainian forces had taken over the maternity and children’s hospital and there were no patients there at the time of the air strikes.

“With regards to the maternity hospital, it is not the first time we have seen pathetic outcries concerning the so-called atrocities perpetrated by the Russian military,” a BBC translator quoted him as saying.

Now, the Russian embassy in the UK has claimed that photos showing a pregnant woman being evacuated from the hospital are fake. They accused a beauty blogger of “playing roles of pregnant women” and said she was wearing “some very realistic make-up”.

Some of the embassy’s claims, which had been made on their Twitter account, were taken down by social media giant on Thursday for violating the site’s rules.

An injured pregnant woman walks downstairs in a maternity hospital damaged by shelling in Mariupol. (AP)

A man carries his child away from the ruined building. (AP)

The embassy added: “Plus she could not be in the maternity house at the time of the strike, as it has long been taken by the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion who told all the staff to clear the place.”

British culture secretary Nadine Dorries branded the Russian embassy’s claims “fake news” and said their comments, made on Twitter, had been reported by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

A spokesperson for Number 10 branded the claims as “further disinformation” from Moscow. He told reporters: “You have seen the pictures of the people who were wounded during that attack, and you have seen what the Prime Minister said in his tweet yesterday.”

The spokesman said he was “not aware” that the Foreign Office had held “specific conversations” about reprimanding the embassy for the social media post.

Asked whether Boris Johnson would like to see social media platforms shut down the Russian embassy’s accounts, the spokesman replied: “That’s obviously a matter for Twitter, but we’ve been clear that that is disinformation.

“You’ve seen the increase in the civilians that have been targeted and sadly wounded and killed on the basis of Russian attacks.”

This map shows the extent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Press Association Images)

Founder of the investigative journalism outlet Bellingcat, Eliot Higgins, called for the Russian embassy account to be taken off Twitter.

An earlier tweet from the Russian embassy claiming that photos from the maternity hospital attack were “fake” seems to have been taken down by Twitter. The link to the post now only shows a message saying: “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules.” The tweet that accuses the pregnant woman of “playing a role” has also been removed.

At least three people - including a six-year-old - are reported to have been killed and 17 others were injured in the attack. The deputy mayor of Mariupol, an industrial port city, said that he was “absolutely sure” that the Russian bombing constituted a war crime.

“This is the third hospital that they have destroyed in the city,” he said. The airstrike wounded women waiting to give birth and buried children in the rubble, according to Ukrainian officials.

A woman pictured after the attack on the hospital. (AP)

A woman stands in a ruined square after the Russian bombing. (AP)

Photos taken by the Associated Press showed Ukrainian emergency services and volunteers carrying an injured pregnant woman from the damaged hospital. Another picture, taken in the aftermath of the attack, showed an expectant mother walking down the stairs of the ruined building.

Yet more photos showed a father carrying his child away from the rubble, and an official standing in a huge crater caused by air strikes.

Ukrainian soldiers and emergency employees survey the damage. (AP)

The World Health Organisation said on Wednesday that it has confirmed 18 Russian attacks on medical facilities since their invasion began.

Some 70 people in the city of Mariupol have been buried in a communal grave since Tuesday, according to footage published by the Associated Press.

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