About Evgeniy Maloletka
Evgeniy Maloletka is a Ukrainian war photographer, journalist and filmmaker who has been covering the war in Ukraine since 2014. He has covered the Euromaidan Revolution, the protests in Belarus, the Nagorno-Karabakh war and the COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine. In February and March 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Evgeniy was among the last reporters of Western media outlets to have worked in besieged Mariupol, together with his AP colleagues Mstyslav Chernov and Vasylisa Stepanenko. Maloletka has documented the atrocities committed by the Russian army in Mariupol, a city that has tragically borne witness to the loss of approximately 20,000 civilians since February 2022.
The Associated Press staff member Maloletka stayed in Mariupol, which was encircled by the Russian troops, under siege, and extensively bombed, whereas the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Defense Ministry claimed that Russia only targets military facilities. Maloletka was among the few international journalists in Mariupol during that period, and photographs of his team were extensively used by Western media to cover the situation. On 11 March, they were in a hospital taking photos when they were taken out of the city with the assistance of Ukrainian soldiers. They managed to escape from Mariupol unharmed.
Maloletka’s picture from the Mariupol maternity ward won two prestigious prizes: the World Press Photo Award and the Pulitzer Prize in two categories, Public Service and Breaking News Photography (as part of the Associated Press team). In the picture, a wounded pregnant woman is being carried on a stretcher during shelling.
“Evgeniy Maloletka captured one of the most defining images of the Russia-Ukraine war amid incredibly challenging circumstances. Without his unflinching courage, little would be known of one of Russia’s most brutal attacks,” AP Senior Vice President Julie Pace said. Evgeniy Maloletka writes,” For me, as a Ukrainian, it is important to show the world what is really happening on the ground. We report what we see: the truth and facts, and portray the persistence and courage of ordinary Ukrainians.”