Under a linked Instagram post, users have left over 1,500 comments in which they disputed that she was injured or was near the hospital which was closed to civilians and was used by Ukrainian militants from the right-wing extremist Azov battalion as a military base.
The War on Fakes project, which tracks and debunks fake news related to the Ukrainian crisis, also shared materials on Telegram refuting that the Mariupol maternity hospital was hit by the Russian army.
This includes testimonies of local residents as well as a chronological compilation of photos showing that images depicting pregnant women and other patients emerged on social media much later than the hospital was allegedly hit, while the initial photos featured no patients.
The project concluded that Podgurskaya was photographed in several different settings in a photoshoot staged specifically to be conducted by a renowned professional photographer, who arrived at the scene many hours later. She changed her clothes and her makeup for each setting. According to the project, Podgurskaya is indeed pregnant but could not have been a patient of the Mariupol maternity hospital as it has been occupied earlier by militants.
Ukrainian opposition lawmaker Illia Kyva, who fled the country amid criminal prosecution for alleged high treason, also voiced confidence that the story around the Mariupol maternity hospital was false-flagged.
"Ukraine is filled with lies and deception. The history of the tragedy in the hospital of Mariupol - another staging and fake," he said on Telegram.
Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on 24 February after the breakaway Donbas republics appealed for help in defending themselves against the Ukrainian military. The Russian Defense Ministry said the operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only.
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