Ukrainian photographers — winners of the most prestigious world competitions

Today, the global recognition of Ukrainian documentarians extends far beyond purely artistic achievements, as the documentary frame remains the most powerful tool in the struggle for international attention. 2026 became another significant year for the victory of Ukrainian photographers, members of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers, on the international stage. Their works were nominated and won awards for their uncompromising documentation of the realities of war.

Conceptual art photographer Serhii Melnychenko became the laureate of the PhEST International Award 2026 and the winner of the PhMuseum 2026 Photography Grant main prize with the project “Frontline rolls”, created in collaboration with Ukrainian defenders. The photographer received a cash grant of five thousand euros and the right to a full-scale presentation at the XI PhEST Photography and Arts Festival in the Italian city of Monopoli this October.

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The organizers of the festival, which this year took place under the theme WHAT IF?, sought deep and powerful works capable of analyzing the present and modeling the future. Serhii Melnychenko's photo series impressed the jury during the shortlisting process with its reflection on the painful reality of Ukraine.

Serhii Melnychenko also became a finalist for prestigious photography awards, and works from his project were selected for exhibitions at leading institutions: Gomma Grant (finalist), Kolga Tbilisi Photo Award (contest finalist and exhibition participant), Belfast Photo Festival (honorable mention), Athens Photo Festival (contest finalist and exhibition participant at the Benaki Museum in Athens), Unboxing (project finalist, participant in a traveling exhibition across Europe), Window Gallery Office Ukraine in Austria (open call finalist, participant in a group exhibition in Vienna that opened in July 2026), EI2026 Selected for video projection | Encontros da Imagem Award 2026 (honorable mention and project selection for the festival's official exhibition video projection).

Serhii Melnychenko is one of the winners of the “Geography of Danger” open call (Kryvyi Rih) followed by participation in the exhibition, and a finalist of the M17 Art Center open call (Kyiv), where he will also participate in a group exhibition.

Serhii Melnychenko says that victories on international platforms at a time when the West increasingly talks about “war fatigue in Ukraine” are extremely important. The photographer shares his observations during trips to the openings of his exhibitions, for example in Copenhagen, and notes that foreigners, despite their great support, have simply become accustomed to the news and the daily images of events in Ukraine.

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“In the case of my project, where the military themselves highlight their lives and everyday existence, it strongly engages the audience because it acts as a reminder of the war in Ukraine—showing the strength and price required for our struggle for sovereignty, freedom, and independence. On the other hand, they see it differently—in context, through the lens of modern reportage photography. That is why it is vital for me to continue spreading this narrative through this project at various photo contests, festivals, and exhibitions, which we are doing successfully,” says Serhii Melnychenko.

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The project “Frontline rolls” does not romanticize war, but shows trench life through photos, letters, and artifacts. Melnychenko explores the psychological impact of extreme conditions on humans, while the project serves as historical testimony of the struggle, bringing together unique materials about the people defending Ukraine.

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Photographer Evgeniy Maloletka won at the World Press Photo 2026 international contest in the “Europe” category. This was announced on April 9. The jury highlighted his work “Russian Attack on Kyiv,” shot for the Associated Press in Kyiv after a massive Russian shelling on April 24, 2025. The photograph captures one of the residents of the capital in front of her destroyed home—65-year-old Valeriia Syniuk, who was wounded. That night’s enemy attack claimed at least 12 lives, and about 90 civilians in the capital were injured.

Since 1955, World Press Photo has been recording key events that change the world, and the works of winners are presented at exhibitions in over 45 countries, creating a unique visual chronicle of modern times.

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For Evgeniy Maloletka, who has been documenting the war since 2014, this is not his first World Press Photo award. His photo report from the besieged Mariupol won the regional stage of World Press Photo in 2023.

At the start of the full-scale invasion, Maloletka along with colleagues Mstyslav Chernov and Vasilisa Stepanenko were the last international journalists in the Russian-surrounded Mariupol. Their unique chronicles became the basis for the film “20 Days in Mariupol,” which brought Ukraine its first Oscar in 2024, and formed the basis for Maloletka’s book “The Siege of Mariupol.”

Photographers Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov won at the prestigious photo contest by the Getty Images photo bank. Their series of images about the war took first place in the “Story of the Year” nomination, and one of the frames took third place in the “Photo of the Year” category.

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On the winning photographs, which the couple shared on Instagram, are the combat everyday lives of Ukrainian soldiers, wounded defenders in hospitals, as well as Russian prisoners of war. Odesans Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov, who before the full-scale invasion were engaged in wedding photography, have completely dedicated themselves to war documentation.

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Kostiantyn and Vlada admit that such awards do not bring them joy due to the heavy context of the shots, yet they recognize the importance of their mission. The couple notes that collaboration with Getty Images is strategically vital, as it is through this photo bank that leading world media take images for front pages, not allowing the world to forget about events in Ukraine.

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“We don’t know how to rejoice in such awards the way people rejoice in other victories. Because behind each of these frames is someone’s pain, someone’s loss, someone’s life that will never be the same again. These shots are not about mastery. They are about what we are all living through right now,” the photographer couple captioned their photographs.

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Photographer Roman Pilipey received the prestigious title of “Photojournalist of the Year” in the national nomination from the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) in the USA. The jury recognized him for a series of images taken over the past year for the AFP News Agency.

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In the winning frames, Roman Pilipey captured the entire spectrum of the Ukrainian present: from deep tragedy to moments of life and hope. Commenting on the award on his social media, the photographer emphasized that the situation in Ukraine remains extremely difficult. He recalled the challenging winter without light and water under regular shelling and noted that the intensity of Russian attacks is only increasing. Relying on AFP statistics based on Ukrainian Air Force data, Pilipey reminded that during the first half of 2026 alone, Russia launched at least 36,455 strike drones and 1,093 missiles at Ukraine.

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“Behind these numbers stand countless ruined lives, deceased families, and millions of people forced to leave their homes in search of safety. It is important never to forget what this statistics really means,” Roman Pilipey emphasized.

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He also expressed gratitude to all colleagues who continue documenting the war and reminding the world of the price Ukraine is paying for its survival.

The work of director Mstyslav Chernov, photographer Alexander Babenko, and producers Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath—the documentary film “2000 Meters to Andriivka”—won at the prestigious 47th News & Documentary Emmy Awards in the category of “Outstanding Direction: Documentary.” The film was nominated in six categories simultaneously.

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Having received a series of accolades in 2025, the team behind the documentary film “2000 Meters to Andriivka” continues to collect the most prestigious international awards in 2026.

The authors of the documentary were recognized at the duPont-Columbia Award 2026 ceremony in New York—one of the most important awards in the field of journalism and documentary cinema. Director Mstyslav Chernov personally attended the event to receive this honorary award and thank the global community for its recognition and support.

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Other victories the filmmakers achieved in 2026 include: wins from the Directors Guild and the Writers Guild, the Paul Selvin Award 2026 from the Writers Guild for Mstyslav Chernov, an award from the American Society of Cinematographers in the “Documentary” category (ASC Awards), and the George Polk Award for Mstyslav Chernov and Alex Babenko.

The film also received wide recognition at the nomination stage: it entered the BAFTA 2026 longlist in the “Documentary” category and was included in the shortlist of contenders for the Peabody Awards.

Separately, the professional community recognized the film's sound accompaniment, nominating composer Sam Slater for the Composer’s Choice Awards 2026 from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for the film's music.

The Ukrainian documentary film “2000 Meters to Andriivka” depicts the hellish path of the soldiers of the Third Separate Assault Brigade through dense forest fortifications of the Russian occupiers in the Donetsk region for the liberation of Ukrainian land. The work is already available for viewing in Ukraine on Megogo, Kyivstar TV, and the Ukrainian cinema platform Takflix.

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Mstyslav Chernov – Ukrainian photographer, Associated Press journalist, director, war correspondent, President of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers, honorary member of Ukrainian PEN, and author. He covered the Revolution of Dignity, the war in eastern Ukraine, the aftermath of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 shootdown, the Syrian civil war, the battles of Mosul in Iraq, and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, including the siege of Mariupol. For this work, he received the Deutsche Welle Freedom of Speech Award, the Georgiy Gongadze Award, Knight International Journalism Awards, Biagio Agnes Award, Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award, Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award, and Free Media Awards. By the end of 2022, he was included in NV’s “People of the Year 2022” and Forbes Ukraine’s “14 songs, photos, and art objects that became symbols of Ukrainian resistance,” and video materials from Mariupol became the basis for the film “20 Days in Mariupol,” which in 2024 was awarded an Oscar for the first time in the history of Ukrainian cinematography.

Serhii Melnychenko — photographer, teacher, founder of the school of conceptual and art photography MYPH. He started photography in 2009. Since then, he has participated in about 200 solo and group exhibitions, fairs, and festivals worldwide. He has organized and curated over 50 projects and exhibitions featuring the work of MYPH school students globally over the past 7 years. Winner of Ukrainian and international contests and awards, including the Leica Oskar Barnack Award Newcomer in 2017 (Berlin), “Photographer of the Year” in 2012, 2013, and 2016 (Kyiv, Ukraine), and “Golden Camera” in 2012 (Kyiv, Ukraine). Finalist for Krakow Photomonth, Pinchuk Art Center Prize, Off_Festival Bratislava 2014, DEBUTS 2018, Kolga Tbilisi Photo Award, Batumi Photodays, and others.

Participant in Paris Photo, Volta Art Fair, Photo L.A., Photo Basel, and Unseen fair. Nominee for the Foam Paul Huf Award in 2020 and 2023. Selected for the European platform for photographers FUTURES in 2022. Serhii’s photographs are held in private and public collections in the USA, Hong Kong, Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany, Belgium, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Japan, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, and others. In 2022 and 2023, two series—totaling 25 of Serhii’s works—entered the permanent collection of the Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung. In 2023, he received a one-year scholarship (grant) from the Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung to create his own photo project.

Roman Pilipey — Ukrainian documentary photographer, covered the Revolution of Dignity and the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war in eastern Ukraine ten years ago. In 2017, he moved to China, where he eventually became the head of the EPA photo agency bureau. Roman photographed in Tibet, documented protests in Hong Kong, and life in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. In 2020, Roman covered the pandemic in China, specifically in Wuhan—the epicenter of the coronavirus. For his photo reports from China, Roman was named “Photographer of the Year” by POY Asia 2022 and twice—in 2019 and 2022—was shortlisted for “Photographer of the Year” by The Guardian. At the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, Roman was in Beijing but immediately decided to return to Ukraine. Currently, he continues to document the Russo-Ukrainian war and its consequences, works with the international agency AFP, and his works are published by international media including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Die Zeit, Le Monde, and many others.

Evgeniy Maloletka — Ukrainian photojournalist who gained wide popularity with his photo report on the siege of Mariupol during Russia's invasion of Ukraine in March 2022. Recipient of the 2022 James Knight International Journalism Award from the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). Laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine (2024). In 2020–2021, Maloletka covered the COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine. Specifically, his photograph of doctor Ivan Venzhynovych was widely used for social advertising. On the night of February 24, 2022, awaiting the invasion of Russian troops, Maloletka and video journalist Mstyslav Chernov, on assignment for the Associated Press, arrived in Mariupol. In the following days, they filmed the destruction caused by city shelling and the work of doctors in local hospitals. The journalists left Mariupol on March 15, 2022, as part of a convoy that departed after the opening of a humanitarian corridor.

Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov — a photographer couple from Odesa. They began their journey five years ago, focusing initially on creative and emotional love stories. Within a few years, they became some of the most recognizable photographers in the field and moved into active teaching, with thousands of grateful students worldwide. At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, they changed the direction of their work, focusing on artistic documentary: their photographs from Ukraine’s hotspots go viral on social media, garnering hundreds of thousands of reposts, and are published by influential media such as the BBC, Welt, Vogue, Forbes, as well as shared on social media by the President of Ukraine and other high-ranking officials.‍Instagram of the couple.

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Project team:
Text authors: Yana Yevmenova
Photo editor: Marusia Maruzhenko
Copy editor: Yuliia Futei

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