Ukrainian Service and Current Time Team, 2023 winner
In a year when Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine has grabbed the world’s attention, displaced millions, and raised profound questions about Europe’s security, RFE/RL’s brave frontline reporters continued to risk their lives in Ukraine. In fact, RFE/RL’s Current Time is the only independent Russian media outlet that has regular video reports from the Ukrainian front line in the Russian language.
Despite the tremendous risks of reporting from the war zone, the four Ukrainian Service and two Current Time journalists on the team consistently dispatched crucial information from the front lines—including vital evidence of Russian war crimes—and reported on the brutal human toll of the war. That toll reached heartbreakingly close to home with the death of RL producer Vira Hyrych, who died in her home in Kyiv during a Russian missile attack on April 28, 2022.
The team provided coverage in both Ukrainian and Russian—serving not only Ukrainian audiences but Russian speakers as well—and actively countered Kremlin propaganda and disinformation. In fact, Current Time is the only independent Russian media outlet that has regular video reports from the Ukrainian front line in the Russian language.
These journalists have suffered greatly during this period, enduring lengthy separations from loved ones, grave health concerns and injuries, and the unparalleled stress of working in highly risky reporting environments.
Ukrainian Service correspondent Maryan Kushnir, photo correspondent Serhii Nuzhnenko, Roman Pahulych, correspondent, Donbas desk, Yaroslav Krechko, correspondent/anchor, Donbas desk and Current Time correspondents Borys Sachalko and Andriy Kuzakov