German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle has announced that two Ukrainian journalists, Mstyslav Chernov and Evgeniy Maloletka, have won its 2022 Freedom of Speech Award.

(Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka – AP Photo/Picture Alliance)

DW awards the prize each year for outstanding promotion of human rights and freedom of expression.

DW Director General Peter Limbourg said: “Mstyslav Chernov and Evgeniy Maloletka have a way of reporting that is painful to read and watch, but what really hurts is the truth that their reporting conveys: Russia brutally attacking Ukraine, and thereby Ukrainian civilians, under a fabricated pretence.

“While there are nuances to every story, there is no way facts can be negotiated. This is exactly what the Kremlin is doing: distorting facts, spreading misinformation.

“The Freedom of Speech Award for Mstyslav Chernov and Evgeniy Maloletka is to recognise their exceptional courage in standing up against propaganda and misinformation. It is to recognise that their fight for human rights and for the truth is a fight for democracy and free societies, for all of us, and it comes at a high price.”

AP journalist and novelist Mr Chernov and freelance photojournalist Mr Maloletka are both from eastern Ukraine. Their reports and footage from the conflicts in Crimea and eastern Ukraine have been published in various international media, including the BBC, DW, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Der Spiegel.

Their report “20 days in Mariupol: The team that documented city’s agony” offers an account of Mariupol under Russian siege, with the two journalists documenting the first deaths at the city’s hospital and the attack on the maternity ward with pregnant women and children in it, as well as numerous bombings.

The award ceremony will take place on 20 June at the DW Global Media Forum in Bonn, Germany.