“Orchestrated Provocation”
Moscow rages after the destruction of the clinic in Mariupol
3/10/2022, 9:49 p.m
Russia destroys the maternity and children’s hospital in Mariupol in an attack – and claims that there was a camp of ultra-radical fighters there. Moscow calls Ukraine’s and the UN’s account of the airstrike a “provocation.” The embassy in Great Britain is also involved.
Contrary to a UN assessment, the Russian Defense Ministry has described the Ukrainian account of the attack on the building of a maternity clinic in Mariupol as an “informal provocation by the Kiev regime”. “The airstrike that allegedly took place is a fully orchestrated provocation to keep the anti-Russian excitement alive among Western audiences,” said ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.
Like Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Konashenkov said the building attacked on Wednesday was last used as a camp for ultra-radical fighters from the Ukrainian Azov battalion. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York: “The human rights team there has confirmed and documented what they described as an indiscriminate airstrike on the hospital and that the hospital was caring for women and children at the time.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said three civilians were killed and 17 injured in the attack. It was not possible to independently verify whether Ukrainian fighters were also in the clinic at the time of the Russian attack.
Russian criticism was sparked by a tweet by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in which he wrote on Wednesday evening: “Today’s attack on a hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, which houses maternity and pediatric wards, is appalling.” Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, then accused the UN of false news. “In our March 7 statement, we had already warned that the hospital had been turned into a military facility by radicals.” It is “very worrying” that the United Nations is spreading this information without checking it.
Fake news allegation about beauty blogger
The tweet is no longer accessible.
(Photo: Screenshot Twitter)
The Russian embassy in Great Britain also substantiated the accusation of staging. She wrote on Twitter that Ukraine had used a well-known beauty blogger for her propaganda – as an injured pregnant woman. Several photographers captured the woman with facial injuries and wrapped in blankets in front of the destroyed clinic building, including the renowned news photographer Evgeniy Maloletka.
According to ntv research, blogger Marianna Podgurskaya is actually pregnant, and her injuries are said to be authentic and not painted on. Whether she was actually at the maternity hospital to give birth to her child is unclear. However, there are many other pictures and videos from the destroyed hospital, some of which show injured civilians. The tweet from the embassy is now no longer accessible.
In addition, the Russian Defense Ministry again accused Ukraine on Thursday of having set up laboratories for biological-military experiments with US help. Konashenkov once again referred to relevant documents. “According to the documents, the American side planned to conduct work on pathogens of birds, bats and reptiles in Ukraine in 2022,” he claimed. Experiments on “possibility of transmission of African swine fever and anthrax” were also planned. There were also studies with bats and corona samples.
These descriptions caused incredulity among Russian opposition figures. “This is a deliberate strategy by the Russian authorities. The only thing the Kremlin cannot say is the truth,” Kira Jarmysch, spokeswoman for the imprisoned Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, wrote on Twitter. “That’s why they keep inventing more and more absurd versions (…).”