Winners of prestigious Ukrainian journalism award announced

The George Gongadze Prize for Ukrainian journalists, now in its fifth year, was awarded in Kyiv.

The 2023 prize was awarded to Bohdan Lohvynenko, a TV presenter, writer and founder of the Ukraїner project, a multimedia project on Ukrainian studies.

The award ceremony took place on Sunday, 21 May.

Lohvynenko founded Ukraїner in 2016. He became a finalist of the George Gongadze Prize in 2020.

"With the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the media have revamped all of their communication channels, covering Russia’s war against Ukraine for Ukrainian and foreign audiences.

One of Ukraїner’s key priorities are stories about Ukrainians’ perseverance, told in different languages across different platforms," the award’s committee said.

Bohdan Lohvynenko holding the award

PHOTO: VALENTYNA NAUMENKO

Lohvynenko is also a co-creator of the Deoccupation documentary project and book, which documents resistance [to the Russian occupation] in liberated territories of Ukraine.

"Before Ukraїner I felt like I was in the minority as someone who was trying to change journalist ethics from the inside and to talk about internal corruption.

This award celebrates a journalist who also considered himself part of a minority among his colleagues, who served their owners, politicians, and ruling parties, following the inertia of Soviet propaganda," Lohvynenko said during the award ceremony.

Other finalists of the 2023 George Gongadze prize include war correspondent Andrii Dubchak and European Pravda editor Serhii Sydorenko, who was also a finalist last year.

European Pravda editor Serhii Sydorenko, the finalist of the 2023 George Gongadze Prize

"Bohdan Lohvynenko took part in preserving Ukrainian national identity. Since 2016, he has been travelling Ukraine and telling Ukrainian people about their beauty, strength and talents.

This is incredibly important when we have so little faith in ourselves," said Myroslava Gongadze, Eastern Europe Bureau Chief at Voice of America, and a member of the Prize's Board of Trustees.

George Gongadze Prize is awarded on 21 may every year

The George Gongadze Prize was established in 2019 by PEN Ukraine in partnership with the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School, the Alumni Association of the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School, and Ukrainska Pravda.

The prize is awarded every year on 21 May, which marks the birthday of Heorhii Gongadze, after whom the award has been named. Gongadze was a Georgian-Ukrainian journalist, a film director, and a founder, together with Olena Prytula, of Ukrainska Pravda. He was kidnapped and murdered in 2000.

In 2022, the George Gongadze Prize was awarded to Mstyslav Chernov and Yevhen Malolietka, journalists and photographers who covered the full-scale Russian invasion in Mariupol.

Maks Levin, a photojournalist, was also awarded, posthumously, for his "significant contribution to the development of Ukrainian photography, his dedication to his craft, and his courage".

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