AP coverage marks 6 months since Russian invasion of Ukraine
On Ukrainian Independence Day, six months to the day since the Russian invasion, Ukrainians walk past destroyed Russian military vehicles installed in downtown Kyiv, Aug. 24, 2022. Kyiv authorities banned mass Independence Day gatherings in the capital for fear of Russian missile attacks. Independence Day, like the six-month mark in the war, falls on Wednesday. (AP Photo / Evgeniy Maloletka)
By Vasilisa Stepanenko, Hanna Arhirova, Evgeniy Maloletka, Mstyslav Chernov, Inna Varenytsia, Derek Gatopolous, Adam Pemble, David Goldman, Susie Blann and Paul Byrne
AP journalists Vasilisa Stepanenko, Hanna Arhirova, Evgeniy Maloletka, Mstyslav Chernov, Inna Varenytsia, Derek Gatopolous, Adam Pemble, David Goldman, Susie Blann and Paul Byrne — and colleagues throughout the AP — all contributed to in-depth, authoritative coverage looking back at the impact of six months of war, not just on Ukraine and Russia, but Europe and the world as well.
After weeks of creative planning and coordination across bureaus and departments, the AP teams on the ground in Ukraine, including Hanna Arhirova, Vasilisa Stepanenko and Inna Varenytsia came up with a series of stories both informative and innovative.
In one story,AP journalists Evgeniy Maloletka, Susie Blann and Derek Gatapolous revisited a 12-year-old looking after his wounded mother,as well as a police officer and an Orthodox priest whose lives have been upended by war. The team chronicled the difficulty dealing with the widespread damage around the Ukrainian capital,Kyiv,the impact it has had on residents,and the aftermath of mass civilian killings in Bucha, northwest of the city.
Key visuals around the anniversary came from video journalists Mstyslav Chernov and Adam Pemble,and photographer David Goldman,while a comprehensive and arresting collection of AP’s photography since February was edited by Tony Hicks, deputy director for international photos.
The body of a serviceman is coated in snow near a destroyed Russian rocket launcher on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Feb. 25, 2022, one day after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. – AP Photo / Vadim Ghirda
Ukrainians crowd under a destroyed bridge as they try to flee across the Irpin River on the outskirts of Kyiv, March 5, 2022. – AP Photo / Emilio Morenatti
Oleksandr Konovalov, an ambulance paramedic, performs CPR on a girl injured by the shelling in a residential area as her father sits at left after arriving at the city hospital of Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, Feb. 27, 2022. The girl did not survive. – AP Photo / Evgeniy Maloletka
At the city hospital of Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, Associated Press photographer Evgeniy Maloletka takes a photo of the lifeless body of a young girl, killed in the shelling of a residential area, Feb. 27, 2022. – AP Photo / Mstyslav Chernov
Serhii, father of teenager Iliya, cries over his son’s lifeless body at a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 2, 2022. – AP Photo / Evgeniy Maloletka
Aleksander, 41, presses his palms against the window as he says goodbye to his daughter Anna, 5, on a train to Lviv at the Kyiv, Ukraine, station, March 4. 2022. Aleksander had to stay behind to fight in the war while his family sought refuge in a neighboring country. – AP Photo / Emilio Morenatti
Russian tanks move down a street on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine, March 11, 2022. – AP Photo / Evgeniy Maloletka
A shell fired by a Russian tank explodes on an apartment building in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 11, 2022. – AP Photo / Evgeniy Maloletka
Mariana Vishegirskaya stands outside a maternity hospital that was damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 9, 2022. Vishegirskaya survived the shelling and later gave birth to a girl in another Mariupol hospital. – AP Photo / Mstyslav Chernov
Ukrainian emergency responders and volunteers carry an injured pregnant woman from the maternity hospital that was damaged by Russian shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 9, 2022. The woman and her unborn baby later died. – AP Photo / Evgeniy Maloletka
Dead bodies are placed in a mass grave on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine, March 9, 2022. Residents could not properly bury their dead because of heavy shelling by Russian forces. – AP Photo / Mstyslav Chernov
Relatives and friends attend a funeral ceremony in Lviv, Ukraine, March 15, 2022, for four Ukrainian military servicemen who were killed in an airstrike on a military base in Yavoriv. Dozens were killed and many wounded in the Russian missile strike on a military training base near Ukraine’s western border with NATO member Poland. – AP Photo / Bernat Armangue
A man and child ride a bicycle in the distance as bodies of civilians lie in the street of the formerly Russian-occupied Kyiv suburb of Bucha, Ukraine, April 2, 2022. – AP Photo / Vadim Ghirda
On the outskirts of Kyiv, April 5, 2022, a dog stands beside the body of an elderly woman killed inside a house in Bucha, Ukraine. – AP Photo / Felipe Dana
A dog stands outside a house painted with the colors of the Ukraine flag near Malaya Alexandrovka village on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, March 30, 2022. – AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
A Ukrainian serviceman stands amid destroyed Russian tanks in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, April 6, 2022. – AP Photo / Felipe Dana
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at his office compound in Kyiv, April 9, 2022. From left are AP video journalist Mstyslav Chernov, Asia-Pacific news director Adam Schreck and the president’s official photographer. – AP Photo / Evgeniy Maloletka
On the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, April 16, 2022, Nadiya Trubchaninova, 70, cries at the coffin of her son, Vadym, 48, who was killed by Russian soldiers on March 30. After discovery of Vadym’s corpse, Trubchaninova had to hitchhike daily from her village to the shattered town of Bucha, trying to bring her son’s body home for proper burial. – AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Volodymyr, 66, injured in a Russian bombardment, sits on a chair in his damaged apartment in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, July 7, 2022. – AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Medic volunteer Nataliia Voronkova, top right, gives a medical tactical training session to soldiers in a bomb shelter as air raid sirens sound in Dobropillia, eastern Ukraine, July 22, 2022. Voronkova has dedicated her life to aid distribution and medical training for soldiers and paramedics, working on front line of the Donetsk region since the war began in 2014. – AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Ukrainian self-propelled artillery fires toward Russian forces at a front-line position in Kharkiv region of Ukraine, July 27, 2022. – AP Photo / Evgeniy Maloletka
Nina Bilyk, left, is embraced by her friend, Olga Gurina, as Bilyk mourns the loss of her partner, Ivan Fartukh, along with his cousin, Andrii Fartukh, right, Aug. 13, 2022, at their home where Ivan was killed overnight in a Russian rocket attack on Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. The strike killed three people and wounded 13 others, according to the mayor. – AP Photo / David Goldman
Valentyna Kondratieva, 75, walks into her heavily damaged home, Aug. 13, 2022, after she sustained injuries in an overnight Russian rocket attack on Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. – AP Photo / David Goldman
Valentyna, a Ukrainian refugee from the Lviv area, works on a self-portrait in a room at a refugee shelter in Warsaw, Poland, Aug. 17, 2022. As Russia’s war against Ukraine reaches tits sixth month, many refugees are coming to the bitter realization they will not be returning home any time soon. – AP Photo / Michal Dyjuk
Children in traditional Ukrainian clothing run through a field Aug. 19, 2022, after recording an online video message for the country’s upcoming Independence Day on Aug. 24 at a community center in Andriivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. – AP Photo / David Goldman
In addition, Vlodymir Isachenkov offered an excellent explainer on the conflict’s current state of play. David McHugh teamed up with Paul Wiseman to outline the economic implications reverberating around the world. Vanessa Gera and Kirsten Grieshaber delivered a compelling look at the plight of Ukrainian refugees six months into the war — Norwegian newspaper Bergens Tidene translated it with prominent display of photos by Michal Dyjuk and Michael Sohn. And Paul Byrne,deputy news director for video, was instrumental in coordinating the all-formats coverage while ensuring teams stayed on top of spot news developments.
