UPDATE 3/14/22: Mariana Vishegirskaya opened up about escaping the maternity ward after it was bombed by Russian forces in a new interview with The Associated Press. The blogger admitted that she was shocked as the attack happened. ““It happened on March 9 in Hospital No. 3 in Mariupol. We were laying in wards when glasses, frames, windows and walls flew apart,” she told AP. “We don’t know how it happened. We were in our wards and some had time to cover themselves, some didn’t.”
Besides Mariana opening up about her experience, it was also reported that one of the other pregnant women that Mariana was photographed with tragically died in attacks. A surgeon said that medics rushed to deliver the baby via a C-section, as she had a crushed pelvis, but the baby also hadn’t survived the attacks. Her dad and husband had come to retrieve her body before officials could get her name. A nurse explained how stressful each birth has been amid the war with Russia. “All birthing mothers have lived through so much,” she told AP.
UPDATE 3/11/22: Mariana Vishegirskaya gave birth to a baby girl on Thursday, March 10. Her aunt Tetyana Liubchenko confirmed the news via phone call to The Daily Beast. She revealed that the baby’s name is Veronika after Nike, the goddess of victory in Greek mythology. “We believe in [Ukraine’s] victory,” Tetyana said. She added, “Her [Marianna] husband called and said that Marianna gave birth to a baby girl. Her weight is 3,200 grams. He said he was together with her in a hospital, in a hospital’s bomb shelter.”
ORIGINAL: Mariana Vishegirskaya is one of the women who was photographed during the aftermath of Russia bombing a maternity ward in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Tuesday, March 9. In one picture, the young, heavily-pregnant woman wore maternity pajamas as she was being pulled from the rubble. Another pic showed Mariana wrapped up in a blanket as her face was covered with dried blood. Take a close look of the heartwrenching pics here. Now, here is everything there is to know about the mother who endured this tragedy.
1. Mariana Was Accused Of Being A Crisis Actor
After news of the bombing broke, the Russian embassy claimed that Mariana was a crisis actor. “She actually played roles of both pregnant women on the photos,” the embassy wrote in a since-deleted tweet. They also tweeted the two pictures with a stamp that read “FAKE.” They accused Ukrainian photographer Evgeniy Maloletka of staging the snaps. Meanwhile, the embassy failed to acknowledge that he wasn’t the only photographer on-site and Associated Press photographer Mstyslav Chernov was actually the photographer who had captured one of the two pics. The embassy has since deleted the tweet, seemingly redacting the accusation.
2. Mariana Announced Her Pregnancy In January
The theory that Mariana was faking her pregnancy with “very realistic makeup” can easily be debunked by looking at her social media activity. The Ukrainian blogger first announced her pregnancy on Instagram in January, after she was seemingly a few months in. Her announcement roughly translates to, “Our little happiness is already on the way and I decided to share this good news with you.”
“You can’t even imagine how difficult it was to be silent and pretend that everything was as usual (especially with my edema 😂), she continued. I really wanted to share the joy with the whole world, but I didn’t want to hurry.” Since announcing her pregnancy, she has kept fans updated with one pic of her and her husband as he cradled her baby bump and another post encouraging users to guess whether her baby is a boy or a girl.
3. Mariana Is A Beauty Blogger
Mariana is a successful beauty blogger with an impressive Instagram following of 47k followers. Based on her Instagram bio, her main focus seems to be haircare and it’s evident that she knows what she’s talking about by her luscious blonde locks. She also gives tips on makeup, skincare and more. The influencer seems to be in demand and has plenty of sponsors reach out to her to promote their products.
4. Mariana Was Lucky To Survive The Maternity Clinic Bombing
While Mariana undeniably went through some trauma and sustained some injuries from the Ukrainian maternity clinic bombing at the hands of Russia, she was one of the lucky ones to survive. Three people died during the bombing with one of those victims being a young girl. 17 people, including doctors, children and expecting mothers like Mariana, were injured during the bombing. Meanwhile, Russia initially denied that any civilians were present, insisting they evacuated the maternity clinic before bombing it.
5. Mariana Is An Animal Lover
Mariana has given her fans a glimpse at her adorable pets! She seems to have one cat and one dog and it’s clear that she loves them very much. In a rare non-beauty post, the blogger shared the story of how she rescued her sweet kitty. Her caption translated to, “A small lump was under the door of my rented apartment and I just decided to feed it and wash it, getting rid of fleas (there was no living place on it, one solid flea)🙈 A very calm girl, during the bath she bravely endured, did not scream and did not scratch! 💪🏼 When I wrapped her in a towel, she immediately fell asleep. I was touched and decided to keep the baby for myself, because she is so cute and helpless.”