Mstyslav Chernov is a journalist for the Associated Press, photographer, and war correspondent. President of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers. Together with Yevhen Malolietka, he was the only journalist covering the blockade of Mariupol by Russian troops for international publications.

Yevhen Malolietka is a photojournalist. He began publishing photographs in 2009. As a freelancer, he collaborated with Associated Press, Al Jazeera, and Der Spiegel. On the eve of the full-scale Russian invasion, he arrived in Mariupol. For over two weeks, together with Mstyslav Chernov, he documented the aftermath of the city's shelling.

Serhiy Sydorenko is a journalist, co-founder, and editor-in-chief of the publication "European Pravda". Since 2014, it has grown into a powerful and popular media outlet on international politics and European integration. In 2021, Serhiy Sydorenko was awarded the National Prize "High Standards of Journalism" in the category "For a sustainable, quality media project/product". Previously, the journalist worked for the newspaper "Kommersant-Ukraine".

Tetiana Troshchynska is the editor of the daily program "Kyiv–Donbas" on "Hromadske Radio", a live broadcast host, and deputy editor-in-chief of "Hromadske Radio". In addition, Tetiana develops and conducts training on strategic, crisis communication, and conflict management, as well as the development of communication and media skills.

This year, for the first time in the history of the Gongadze Prize, a Special Award has been introduced. The Committee posthumously honored photojournalist Max Levin "for his outstanding contribution to the development of Ukrainian photography, dedication to the profession, and courage". Since 2014, Max Levin had been photographing the war in Donbas. He was one of the Ukrainian journalists who witnessed the tragic events in Ilovaisk and managed to escape from the Ilovaisk pocket. After that, together with his colleague Markiyan Lyseyko, he launched the documentary project After Ilovaisk.

Max said: "Every photographer dreams of taking a photo that will stop the war." Until his last days, he documented the events of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including the battles in the Kyiv region. In early March, he was killed by Russian occupiers while performing his professional duties.

Members of the Committee emphasize that the introduction of the Special Award in this difficult year, when Russia launched a full-scale war against our country, is a sign of respect and remembrance for all journalists who died in the war. To date, 22 Ukrainian and foreign journalists have been killed by Russian occupiers while performing their professional duties, as well as military personnel in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and as civilian residents.

Let us remind you that the Gongadze Prize Committee this year included: the wife of Heorhiy Gongadze, journalist, editor-in-chief, and head of the Ukrainian Service of "Voice of America" Myroslava Gongadze, President of Ukrainian PEN, writer Andriy Kurkov, journalist, co-founder of the publication "Ukrainian Pravda" Olena Prytula, Dean of the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School Oleksandr Savruk, patron of the Prize and representative of the powered KMBS Alumni platform Anton Artemenko, TV host and last year's laureate of the Gongadze Prize Myroslava Barchuk, religious scholar Ihor Kozlovskyi, head of the Kyiv bureau of "Radio Liberty" Inna Kuznetsova, media manager Zurab Alasania.

According to the conditions of the Prize, only members of the Committee have the right to nominate journalists for its award and determine the recipients of special awards.

Criteria for nominating candidates:

commitment to the principles and values of independent journalism;
professionalism and competence;
innovation;
significant contribution to the development of a particular genre or media environment as a whole;
creation of materials that led to the resolution or understanding of certain issues in society and changes in the country.

The laureate receives a statuette and a monetary reward of 100,000 UAH.

The Gongadze Prize was established in 2019 by Ukrainian PEN in partnership with the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School, powered by the KMBS Alumni platform, and the publication "Ukrainian Pravda". Previous laureates of the Prize include Vakhtang Kipiani (2019), Pavlo Kazarin (2020), and Myroslava Barchuk (2021).

Let us remind you that the Gongadze Prize is awarded thanks to the support of patrons. They can only be graduates of the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School. They are united by a shared educational experience and a desire to implement systemic changes in Ukraine.

Since its inception in 2019, the Prize has been supported by 21 patrons/families of patrons: Oleksandr Adamiuk, Anton Artemenko, the Brunner family, Oleh Brusylovskyi, the Viknianskyi family, Yaroslav Volkovetskyi, Mykola Demchenko and Olha Myshurovska, Maryna Derepa, Serhiy Dulepov, Maksym Dyadyk, Andriy Isak, Roman Kvashenko, the Mishchenko family, Dmytro Novytskyi, Lyudmyla Perebyinos, Oksana Prosolenko, Andriy Selepei, Vitalii Smirnov, Mykola Sushko, Oleksandr Tkachuk, Dmytro Chernov.

Chernov and Malolietka, Sydorenko, Troshchynska in the shortlist for the Gongadze Prize