Black days of Ukraine

• Prize
• Photographer
  Valery Melnikov, Russian Federation
• Studio
  Rossiya Segodnya
• Website
  http://valerymelnikov.com/index.php?/

Attempts to divide southwest of Ukraine in 2014, led the country
to the full-scale hostilities. Due to the protracted confrontation
between the Ukrainian army and the separatists, more than 25
thousand inhabitants had already fled from the country. The
conflict is destroying the country from within.
I arrived in the Ukrainian city called Luhansk in the early summer
of 2014 and it was still a peaceful town, but the feeling of
impending disaster was already in the air and and every following
day it became even stronger.
The conflict between separatists and the official Ukrainian
authorities gradually escalated into the war. The south-east of
Ukraine was captured by the full-scale hostilities.
This summer became the bloodiest time for the strategically
important city of Luhansk.
The locals had to survive without any water and electricity under
the daily shelling. And each new day could become their last day.
There always at least two armed fighting sides in any war. For me,
as a journalist, the most interesting side in this conflict was the
third one – ordinary civil people. Disaster came into their lives
unexpectedly.
These people appeared the participants of the military
confrontation against their will. They experienced the most
terrible things: the death of their friends and relatives, destroyed
houses and ruined lives of thousands of people.
I stayed in the Luhansk region for more than a month
documenting the dramatic the recent Ukrainian historical events.
This series of photos reflected the most awful events that I
witnessed in the summer of 2014.

• Biography
  He has dedicated himself to documenting the political and social life of societies in conflict. Valery’s professional biography includes coverage of Chechen war, conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia, Lebanese war in 2006, uprising of Mali Republic, Syrian civil war. In 2014, Valery began documenting war in Eastern Ukraine. This work continues in his current ongoing project, Black days of Ukraine, about ordinary civil people who became the participants of the military confrontation against their will.
• Awards
  018 — World Press Photo, Netherlands, 2nd Prize 2017 — World Press Photo, Netherlands, 1st Prize 2017 —The Prix de la Photographie PX3, France, 1st Prize 2017 — Life Framer Photography Award, USA, 1st Prize 2017 — Circle of Life contest, International Photo festival “Vilnius Photo Circle”, Lithuania, Finalist 2017 — Lense Culture, Exposure Awards, USA, Finalist 2016 — Bourse Du Talent, France, Winner 2016 — Magnum Photography Awards, USA, Winner 2016 — Prix International des Nouvelles Ecritures, France, Winner 2016 — Fine Art Photography Awards, USA, 2nd Prize in Photojournalism category 2016 — Circle of Life contest , International Photo festival “Vilnius Photo Circle”, Lithuania, Winner 2016 — Pictures of the Year International (POYI), USA, Award of Excellence in Portrait series and Award of Excellence in Multimedia news story 2016 — Bayeux-Calvados Award for War Correspondents, Finalist 2015 — LensCulture Visual Storytelling Awards, USA, 1st Prize 2015 — Kontinent photography Awards, Turkey, Honorable mentions 2015 — Direct Look photo contest, FOTODOC Center for Documentary Photography, Russia, 2nd Prize 2015 — Leica Oscar Barnack Award, Germany, Finalist 2015 — Sony World Photography Awards, UK, 2nd Prize in the current affairs category 2015 — Kolga Award, Kolga Tblisi Photo, Georgia, 1st Prize in the reportage category 2015 — DAYS Japan International Photojournalism Awards, Japan, 2nd Prize 2015 — China International Press photo contest (CHIPP), 1st Prize in the War & Disaster News Singles and 1st Prize in the War & Disaster News Stories 2014 — Professional Photographer of the Year Contest, UK, 1st Prize in the News category 2014 — China International Press photo contest (CHIPP), 1st Prize in the Portraits category and 2nd Prize in the People in the News category