RUSSIA'S SHAME
Vile Russia accuses pregnant woman of FAKING barbaric hospital bombing injuries in pics that shocked the world
RUSSIA has shamelessly accused a pregnant woman of helping to fake a barbaric hospital bombing that killed three people in Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin's UK embassy outrageously claimed shocking photos of a woman left bloodied and stood amongst the rubble in Mariupol were an elaborate fake.
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The expectant mum was pictured yesterday standing wrapped in a blanket after a devastating Russian airstrike on a maternity hospital in Mariupol.
She was also snapped covered in blood as she walked down the stairs in the bombed-out medical centre carrying her belongings.
And just hours after the attack, she is now reported to have given birth in a gimmer of joy amongst the horror.
Putin's forces are believed to have dropped a 2,000lb bomb on the site which left a massive crater in the ground.
Children were left buried under the rubble and at least three people - including a girl, six - were killed in the strike.
Her haunted look as she stares into the distance has become one of the most heartbreaking images of Russia's vicious campaign.
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But in a brazen effort to distance itself from the atrocity, Russia claimed the pictures had been FAKED.
In a string of now-deleted tweets, Putin's embassy in London accused the woman of wearing "make-up" and said she was "playing" the role of a victim.
The embassy named the woman as Marianna Podgurskaya, a pregnant beauty blogger from Mariupol.
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It has been independently verified by fact-checkers that Marianna is the same woman caught up in the hospital shelling.
But now her social media feeds are being flooded by vicious trolls mobilised by Putin.
UK culture secretary denounced the post as "fake news" - and it has now been removed by Twitter.
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However, the posts continue to spread in screenshots and the damage has been done.
Marianna's Telegram page has now been bombarded by trolls and her Instagram is full of cruel comments - baselessly alleging she is part of a wide-ranging conspiracy by the West and Ukraine.
Civilians have found themselves as fair game for Putin's indiscriminate bombing - which has been decried as a war crime.
It comes as:
- Russia has been accused of bombing a maternity hospital - killing three including a girl, 6 - as its bloody campaign continues
- Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned - banning him from selling Chelsea FC
- The club is now in limbo - with a transfer ban and being left unable to offer new deals to their players
- US officials warned Putin could unleash biological weapons as Kharkiv came under siege
- Russia has already been accused of using thermobaric "vacuum bombs" that can rupture people's lungs
- Cities in Ukraine have been reduced to harrowing apocalyptic hellscapes under Putin's merciless bombing
- A heartbroken Ukrainian dad pleaded "forgive me" as his entire family was wiped out by Russian strikes
- Europe's biggest nuclear plant has had its warning systems shut down after being taken over by the Russians
And it also appears they are at risk from Russia's vicious online fake news operation and troll factories.
The blogger - who has 25k followers - had been excitedly sharing updates on her pregnancy with her fans just days before Putin invaded Ukraine.
Posting a picture of her bump as she picked out baby clothes, she asked her followers: "Girl or boy?"
And on Valentine's Day, she posted a snap with her husband Yuri lovingly cradling her tummy.
"We continue to fall in love and we do it great, although it would seem much more?" wrote Marianna.
"And there is much more .. soon our happiness will be born and this will be a new stage in our family life, we will open up in a new way.
"All love and butterflies in the soul."
But these happy posts have now been weaponised against her by the vicious troll army, some of whom try to disgustingly claim she is not even pregnant.
She also set up a Telegram channel as the war was declared to help her followers amid rumours Instagram was due to be taken offline.
"I wish you all health, may your families be safe, and may the men return home safe and sound," she wrote.
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The Sun Online has reached out to Marianna and Yuri - but has not yet heard back.
Since her posts, Mariupol has devolved into one of the bloodiest battlegrounds of the war as Putin's forces besiege them.
Russia denies everything and even bizarrely tried to deny the whole invasion.
It claims while it bombed the hospital - it was because it was home to the Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion.
Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, told a news conference earlier today that the hospital was a "legitimate target".
He baselessly claimed there were no patients on the ward - when the pictures clearly show otherwise.
Lavrov bizarrely claimed that Russia "never attacked Ukraine" and said the outcry over the hospital attack was "pathetic".
The Kremlin is pumping out torrents of misinformation in a bid to defend its invasion and the bombing of civilians.
And Mariupol has felt the brunt of Putin's war machine.
It is estimated some 1,200 civilians have been killed in the city - which is the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Pictures show the city ablaze, blood on the streets, dead bodies lying where they dropped, as the Red Cross described the situation as "apocalyptic".
The population of 200,000 have been subject to constant bombardment as the city was encircled by the Russian forces.
It has become a humanitarian catastrophe where people are living in their basements, having to melt snow for water, and where unburied bodies are ripped apart by stray dogs.
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United Nations officials have warned the refugees desperately trying to flee from Ukraine will have increased to four million.
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The war has now been going on for two weeks - and shows no sign in stopping despite peace talks.
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