Marianna Podgurskaya Was Not Acting When She Fled the Hospital

Misbar has investigated the claim and found it to be fake. The alleged story was first posted by the Russian embassy in the UK on March 10, following the deadly attack on the Mariupol maternity hospital. The same claim was also making the rounds on Russian Telegram channels.

Marianna Podgurskaya, a beauty influencer based in Mariupol, is depicted in the claim. Evigeniy Maloletka, an Associated Press photojournalist, captured the influencer fleeing the building following the Russian attack on the hospital.

Podgurskaya has already revealed that she was pregnant in several photos on her Instagram account.

Other users alleged that Podgurskaya was acting the role of two pregnant women. However, a close examination of the two images featured in the claim reveals that they are of two different women, as shown below.

Other users claimed that the Mariupol maternity hospital was empty and that its services had been suspended. However, in a post on the maternity hospital's Facebook page on March 2, the hospital's staff requested diesel fuel and filters for the reverse oscillation system.

Following the attack on the Mariupol maternity hospital with several high-explosive bombs, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated  that the attack was a "war crime" and "final proof that the genocide of Ukrainians is taking place."

Days later, media outlets published photos of her and her husband and baby daughter, Veronika, on a hospital bed after she gave birth. 

Furthermore, the Russian embassy's comment about the incident was removed from Twitter for "denial of violent events."