Among the winners of this year's award were Ukrainian journalists Mstyslav Chernov, Yevhen Malolietka, and Vasilisa Stepanenko. The first two winners of the most prestigious award among media, literature, music, and theatre workers are engaged in photojournalism. They were awarded "for the service of the society". The photos, which Malolietka made in Mariupol, appeared on the covers of famous foreign publications last year. He took photographs of the first minutes after the bombing of the maternity hospital in Mariupol and of injured pregnant women. The Associated Press also awarded these journalists within the category of "breaking news coverage". Vasilisa Stepanenko is a journalist who, despite the chaotic circumstances of the occupiers, reported from Mariupol in 2022.
These Ukrainian representatives of the media community were in Mariupol until March 15, 2022. They became the last Ukrainian and international journalists who stopped covering the city's events. Last year, these journalists were also recognized at Columbia University for their "courage, endurance, and devotion to the truth during the Russian aggression."
The cover — Yevhen Malolietka.
