Russian Embassy Claims Ukrainian Blogger Staged Maternity Hospital Pics

Russia is ridiculous ... Putin now claims the photo of a pregnant Ukrainian influencer who was injured in the bombing of a maternity hospital is a fake, and it's triggered worldwide outrage.

Beauty blogger Marianna Podgurskaya was called out by the Russian embassy in London as nothing more than an actor ... claiming to play it up for the camera in aftermath photos at the hospital in Mariupol.

While Podgurskaya is not yet confirmed as the woman in the pictures, she's based in Mariupol and posted an image of her pregnant belly a week ago online.

Russia’s embassy posted photos of Wednesday’s destruction, featuring a giant “FAKE” stamp on the pics. When people on Twitter pointed out the pregnant woman escaping with blood dripping from her face, the embassy said it was just Podgurskaya with realistic make-up.

The embassy's attempted to back its claim by saying the photos were taken by a “famous propagandist photographer” — who is actually an award-winning war photographer covering the war for the Associated Press.

The embassy stuck to its guns -- even after ridicule -- saying, “she could not be in the maternity house at the time of the strike, as it has long been taken by the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion who told all the staff to clear the place.”

Twitter yanked the posts after the British government expressed outrage.

The attack on the maternity hospital was brutal ... President Zelensky released a video showing the aftermath on Twitter, calling it an absolute atrocity and a genocide.

He called for NATO and/or the U.S. to institute a no-fly zone over his country, saying ... "Close the sky right now! Stop the killings! You have power but you seem to be losing humanity."

Ukrainian officials have confirmed that a young girl was among three people who died in the attack that also injured 17 others.