Yekaterina Parkhomenko uploaded a photograph on Instagram, the photo-sharing social network, with the caption: ‘Mascara from Amsterdam; to be precise, from the field. Well, you understand.’
A young woman in eastern Ukraine has provoked outrage by allegedly posting a picture of herself on Instagram using a mascara wand looted from the crash site of Flight MH17.
Yekaterina Parkhomenko uploaded a photograph on Instagram of her hand holding the Catrice cosmetic with the caption: “Mascara from Amsterdam; to be precise, from the field. Well, you understand.”
Ekaterina Parkhomenko holding the Catrice cosmetic
Russian and Ukrainian media said it could not be ruled out that the post was a fake, but that it appeared to be authentic.
Asked by another user on Instagram where the mascara had come from, Ms Parkhomenko replied that she had got it “from a looter acquaintance”.
The woman, who apparently lives in the village of Torez near the crash site and employed the username “zolotosya”, defended her actions saying: “I’m a separatist and after the recent events everything Ukrainian makes me feel sick and really infuriated.”
Other users reacted to the picture with emotions from humour to shock and disgust.
One, “annahurma”, replied to the post saying: “Good thing you’re not eating up the in-flight food … or whatever else you could find there.” To which “zolotosya” replied: “Do you want me to send you some food too? And underwear? And faeces?”
Ms Parkhomenko’s Instagram account was deleted today after a storm of criticism on the Internet.
Poor treatment of the dead and their possessions at the site caused international indignation after the Malaysia Airlines crash on July 17, killing 298 people.
Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, said he was “shocked at the pictures of utterly disrespectful behaviour at this tragic spot”. Ukraine government officials claimed that “terrorist death hunters” were collecting victims’ cash and jewellery, while a Telegraph correspondent saw empty wallets and open purses strewn on the ground.
The family of one British victim said yesterday that they had cancelled his credit card for security reasons.
