Twitter removed two messages shared by the Russian embassy in the UK for violating the platform’s rules, but did not take action against a very similar tweet posted by the Russian embassy in Italy. At the center of the debate are the bombing of the Mariupol hospital and the photos of the young pregnant woman in front of the remains of the structure. The images have gone around the world, but the Moscow government insists that it is fake news and so are the social media of its embassies.

In addition to that of London, other Russian diplomatic representations in other Western European countries have also posted tweets to disavow the accusation of attack in Mariupol with harsh words.

One of the strongest tweets is the work of the Russian embassy in Italy, which speaks of “scandal”, “maximum cynicism” and “campaign of lies” regarding the “alleged destruction of the hospital by Russia”, defining the invasion a “special military operation”. The message, which obtained over 2,500 likes, refers to a longer and more detailed post on Facebook and was taken up by journalists and professionals precisely to highlight the different attitude held by Twitter towards messages that are identical in terms and purposes.

Taking up the version of the Foreign Minister Sergej Lavrov about the “staging” of Mariupol, however, the Russian embassy in Great Britain has exceeded the limits, forcing Twitter to delete the contents for violation of the guidelines, or for ” hateful conduct and abusive behavior related to the denial of violent events “. To push towards this measure were the many criticisms rained down on Russian diplomats from the British government, with the spokesman for Boris Johnson who defined what was published ” further Russian disinformation “.

The protagonist of the controversy is Marianna Podgurskaya , model and beauty expert, targeted by pro-Russians on social media after being photographed while fleeing from the Mariupol hospital by Evgenij Malolekta, Ukrainian photojournalist. For years on the eastern front of Ukraine for the Associated Press, Malolekta has collaborated over the years with some of the most popular newspapers in the world, such as the BBC, Euronews, New York Times, Newsweek, Guardian, El Pais, Time and Washington Post. But for the Russians he is a “renowned propagandist”. Moreover, since his first works, Malolekta has been dealing with sick children, participating in projects to support the care of children affected by cancer, while in recent years he has been repeatedly awarded prizes in Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian photographic competitions.

Even worse was the treatment given to Podgurskaya, who for the account of the Russian embassy would have played the part in favor of the camera. The influencer girl was really pregnant, as can be seen from her Instagram profile of her, and she then gave birth .

On the profiles of the Russian embassies in Italy, Spain, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the United States, there are several accusations against Ukraine and the Western world. They range from the experiments with pathogens to create biological weapons conducted by the Pentagon in Ukrainian laboratories, to the alleged fake news spread by the UN , to the danger of planes shot down by the Ukrainians thanks to ammunition sent by the Western world and the chemical attack planned by Ukrainian nationalists to then blame Russia. It is part of the Russian scheme of reversing news and spreading more without adding verified and independent sources, and it repeats itself over and over again.

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