An injured, pregnant woman lying on a stretcher clutching her stomach as men carry her through buildings destroyed by rocket attacks: this world-famous photo from the early days of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine was named Press Photo of the Year today. The photo taken by Ukrainian photographer Evgeniy Maloletka for the Associated Press (AP) news agency after an attack on a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, “captures the absurdity and horror of war,” the World Press Photo competition jury said for justification.
AP/Evgeniy Maloletka
The daughter of pregnant Iryna Kalinina was stillborn after the attack on March 9, 2022, she herself died half an hour later. The Maloletka photo represents the “murder of future generations of Ukrainians”, the jury said. The image accurately reflects the events and is “evidence of war crimes committed by Russian troops against Ukrainian civilians”.
Maloletka and an AP video colleague arrived in Mariupol just an hour before the start of the Russian invasion. They spent 20 days in the city documenting the aftermath of the Russian attacks.
His now awarded photo is “the photo I want to forget. But I can’t,” Maloletka said in a video released by the jury. He hopes his work will help “people understand.” The photo could one day be used in a court case over Russian war crimes in Ukraine.