Twitter removes Russian embassy tweet claiming its bombing of Ukraine maternity hospital was a 'hoax'
Twitter removes Russian embassy tweet claiming its bombing of Ukraine maternity hospital was a 'hoax'
Twitter has removed a tweet from the Russian embassy in the UK claiming that the bombing of a hospital in Ukraine was a hoax.
2 min read
Russia bombed the maternity clinic on Wednesday killing three people [Getty]
Twitter has removed a tweet from an official Russian account claiming that the bombing of a clinic in Ukraine was a hoax.
The Russian Embassy in London tweeted claiming that the Mariupol maternity hospital - hit by a Russian airstrike on Wednesday, killing three people - was not operational when it was bombed and footage of victims of the blast - including pregnant women - were "fake".
The tweets included the word "fake" written on some of the images.
The embassy also claimed that a woman injured in a strike "played the role of both pregnant women" in some of the images.
Journalists and NGOs have documented to the strike on the clinic.
Open source researcher Eliot Higgins pointed out that the woman, blogger "gixie_beauty", had already posted images showing she was pregnant prior to the attack.
Twitter promptly removed the Russian embassy post saying: "This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules."
Russia has been accused of using official social media accounts to spread disinformation, including in the Syria war.
Embassy accounts have frequently alleged that White Helmets rescue workers and the victims of Russian bombings in Syria were actors. Such claims have been disproven by open-source researchers and journalists.
Pro-Russian government media and social media accounts have been used to huddle around the official state narrative on the invasion of Ukraine.
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