Russian Government accuses Ukraine of lying about bombing of maternity hospital

The Government is accusing Ukrainians of using "realistic makeup" to fake injuries.

The Russian Government has accused Ukraine of lying about a Russian attack on a maternity hospital earlier this week. Three people, including a child, were killed following a Russian airstrike on the hospital in the coastal city of Mariupol on Wednesday (9 March). The attack was condemned by world leaders, including Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who described the attack as a sample of Putin's "indiscriminate cruelty". On Thursday, however, the Russian embassy in the UK posted a series of tweets accusing Ukrainians of lying about the operation, tweets that have since been removed for a violation of Twitter rules. "FM Lavrov on the Mariupol attack: The maternity house was long non-operational," the Embassy wrote. "Instead, it was used by Ukrainian armed forces and radicals, namely the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion. "Moreover, Russia warned UN Security Council about this three days ago," the Embassy added. The Embassy also accused Ukraine of using Ukrainian beauty bloggers to act as pregnant women affected by the bombing. "It's the indeed pregnant Ukrainian beauty blogger Marianna Podgurskaya," the Embassy wrote. "She actually played roles of both pregnant women on the photos. "And first photos were actually taken by famous propagandist photographer Evgeniy Maloletka, rather than rescuers and witnesses as one would expect. "She has some very realistic makeup. She is also doing well with her beauty blogs. "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," the Embassy concluded. Several pregnant women are seen in photos from the day, wearing different outfits and in different states of injury. Several Embassy accounts have shared accusations of Ukraine falsifying accounts, including the Russian Embassy in Ireland. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has shared information via its Twitter account accusing the details of the bombing of being incorrect. https://twitter.com/mission_russian/status/1501823680434819074?s=20&t=7x3VU55OrE-mp6vpTA-f7A Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack on the hospital as an "atrocity". https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1501579520633102349?s=20&t=7x3VU55OrE-mp6vpTA-f7A "How much longer will the world be an accomplice ignoring terror?" Zelensky wrote. "Close the sky right now! Stop the killings! "You have power but you seem to be losing humanity."