2023 Pulitzer Prizes recognize AP’s coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Exemplary coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war resulted in multiple 2023 Pulitzer Prizes on Monday, with The Associated Press receiving two honors, including the prestigious public service journalism award.

This year’s public service prize recognized the AP’s reporting by Mstyslav Chernov, Evgeniy Maloletka, Vasilisa Stepanenko and Lori Hinnant from Russian-occupied Mariupol, Ukraine. Pulitzer administrators described their coverage as “courageous” and said it “bore witness to the slaughter of civilians.”

The Associated Press also won the breaking news photography prize for its images from Ukraine during the initial weeks of the invasion.

“AP journalists have done courageous and important work in Ukraine throughout the war, shining a spotlight in particular on the human toll of the conflict,” said Julie Pace, the AP’s senior vice president and executive editor.

The New York Times staff won in the international reporting category for its in-depth coverage of the conflict, including an eight-month investigation into deaths in Bucha, Ukraine. The Times won as well in the illustrated reporting and commentary category for Mona Chalabi’s multifaceted breakdown of Jeff Bezos’ wealth and power.

The feature writing prize went to Eli Saslow for his Washington Post deep-dive about people struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, homelessness, addiction and inequality. The Syracuse University graduate previously won the 2014 Pulitzer for a series about American hunger and food stamps. He was a finalist in the feature writing category in 2013, 2016 and 2017 as well.

Carole Kitchener won the national reporting honor for her Washington Post work capturing “the complex consequences of life after Roe v. Wade,” organizers said.

Also winning two prizes apiece were the Los Angeles Times for breaking news reporting and feature photography, and AL.com in Birmingham, Ala., for local reporting and commentary.

Established at New York’s Columbia University in 1917, the Pulitzer Prizes recognize 15 journalism categories and eight arts categories every year.

On the arts side, “Omar,” an opera by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, received this year’s Pulitzer Prize for music, and the book “His Name is George Floyd” by Washington Post journalists Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa won for general nonfiction.

A gold medal is given to the winner of the public service honor, while the other recipients receive $15,000 prizes. Last year’s public service award went to The Washington Post for its coverage of the January 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

The Daily News has won 11 Pulitzer Prizes. In 2017, The News and the nonprofit ProPublica received the public service award for coverage of a nuisance abatement law used by the NYPD to evict business owners and residents. Daily News reporter Sarah Ryley provided much of the coverage.