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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Matthew Dresch

'World’s strongest girl' is now Vladimir Putin stooge who taunts Arnold Schwarzenegger

A young woman once dubbed the "world's strongest girl" now taunts her former hero Arnold Schwarzenegger after she became a stooge for Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.

Maryana Naumova earned her nickname after becoming the first child to compete in adult powerlifting contests, including Schwarzenegger's famous contest.

The Russian youngster was able to bench press 240lbs (108kg) when she was just 13 years old. Two years later she was able to lift an astonishing 330lbs (149kg) in the same exercise.

Film star Arnie even gave the teen a hug after she hit the weightlifting milestone.

However Maryana, now 23, has now turned on her former hero, slamming him over his support for Ukraine.

Maryana bench-pressed an astonishing 330lbs (149kg) when she was 15 (MaryanaNaumovaSport/Facebook)

In a video message to Schwarzenegger, Maryana said: "I would like to remind you your family was once already deceived by Nazism and your father came to my homeland with a gun, killing and maiming my compatriots."

Schwarzenegger's father fought within the German Army during World War 2 and was injured in the Russian city of Leningrad in 1942.

Maryana invited the former Mr Olympia to visit the Kremlin-occupied Donbass region of Ukraine to witness the suffering of civilians.

The young weightlifter also peddled the Kremlin's lies about Ukraine being under the control of neo-Nazis

Maryana called out Schwarzenegger for his father's Nazi past (Maryana Naumova/Facebook)

It comes after Arnie released a video criticising Putin and warning Russians that they were being fed misinformation about the war.

Speaking in a nine-minute video, the former Governor of California said he was a "a longtime friend of the Russian people", as he urged Putin to stop the war in his passionate plea.

"To President Putin, I say, you started this war. You are leading this war. You can stop this war," the star said.

Addressing his message to his "dear Russian friends and the Russian soldiers serving in Ukraine", the actor explained how he would be discussing some "harsh realities" throughout his broadcast.

Maryana invited the former Mr Olympia to visit the Donbass region (Maryana Naumova/Instagram)
The young weightlifter peddled the Kremlin's lies about Ukraine being under the control of neo-Nazis (Maryana Naumova/Facebook)

Before proceeding, Arnold explained how he wanted to talk about "the Russian who became his hero" throughout his childhood.

The former bodybuilder recalled idolising Petrovich Vlasov, a champion weightlifter from Russia, as a young child growing up in Austria - having a picture of him up on his wall.

Arnold explained how his late father - a well-known member of the Nazi party who served in World War II - didn't approve of his son supporting a Russian athlete.

"He didn't like Russians, because of his experiences in the second World War," he continued.

"My father told me to take down the picture and to find a German or Austrian hero, but I did not take down the photograph, because it didn't matter to me what flag Yuri Vlasov carried."

Maryana said the former Mr Olympia's family was already "deceived by Nazism" once before (Maryana Naumova/Facebook)

After sharing some more stories about his connections to Russia, he then went on the share the "harsh realities" he mentioned earlier.

"No one likes to hear something critical of their government, I understand that, but as a long-time friend of the Russian people, I hope that you will hear what I have to say," Arnold continued.

"I speak with the same heartfelt concern as I did with the American people when there was an attempted insurrection on January 6 last year, when a wild crowd was storming the US capitol trying to overthrow our government.

"I know that your government has told you that this is a war to denazify Ukraine. Denazify Ukraine? This is not true!

The Russian was dubbed the "world's strongest girl" (Maryana Naumova/Instagram)

"Ukraine is a country with a Jewish president, a Jewish president I might add, whose father's three brothers were all murdered by the Nazis.

He continued: "You see, Ukraine did not start this war. Neither did nationalists or Nazis. Those in power in the Kremlin started this war. This is not the Russian people's war. No.

"As a matter of fact let me tell you, what you should know is that 141 nations at the UN voted that Russia was the aggressor.

"They called for it to remove its troops immediately. Only four countries in the entire world voted with Russia. That is a fact."

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