Like many Russian-speaking Ukrainians, he has many friends and family members in neighbouring Russia. Some of the medic's many Russian friends and relatives have told him the pictures and reports of wounded Ukrainian children are fake, or taken from different conflicts in other parts of the world.
“Most Russian people don't believe these pictures,” he said.
“I hope this picture will create a strong impression on people,” Ivan Anikin, head of intensive care at the children's hospital in Zaporizhzhia, said, looking at Masha's body as he encouraged the Telegraph to photograph her.īut he was sceptical that it would change many minds across the border. The blast left her deafened and she has not eaten for five days. Masha's right arm was also shredded by shrapnel and her shoulder broken. She had been walking with her mother, Sonia, and another girl in their home town of Polohy when a shell landed 10 feet away. A light sheet draped over the body of 15-year-old Masha Feshchenko, clearly shows the outline of a stump where her right leg had been amputated above the knee.
