A photo of a heavily pregnant woman fleeing a bombed maternity hospital became one of the most iconic images of the war in Ukraine. But its subject was targeted by an extraordinary Russian disinformation campaign and she received hate from both sides.
Wrapped in a duvet with her forehead bloodied, Marianna Vyshemirsky’s image was seen around the world.
The photo above was taken in the aftermath of a Russian airstrike in Mariupol. It circulated online, on newspaper front pages, and was argued about at the UN Security Council.
But, having survived one attack, Marianna faced another onslaught – of disinformation and hate aimed at her and her family.
As Russia attempted to sow falsehoods about the attack, 29-year-old Marianna was falsely accused of “acting”. Russian diplomats even claimed that she had “played” not one, but two different women.
I’ve spoken extensively to her friends and relatives, but have been trying to interview my namesake for weeks. So when she finally appears on my screen on a video call, it feels a little surreal. She tells me about her harrowing escape, and about the online abuse that came after.
“I received threats that they would come and find me, that I would be killed, that my child would be cut into pieces,” she says.
This is her first interview with a major western media outlet after being evacuated to her hometown in a part of Donbas controlled by Russian-backed separatists.
Marianna seems at ease, and is speaking to me without any preconditions, but a pro-separatist blogger is with her.
She tells me what it’s like to find herself inside an information battle – all while giving birth to her daughter Veronika in a war zone.
“She chose to show up at a difficult time,” she explains, “but it’s better she arrived under these circumstances than not at all.”
