World Press Photo apologizes for combining photos of pro-Russian militant, Ukrainian child in 'visual pair'

The jury of the World Press Photo contest apologized for pairing photos of a wounded pro-Russian militant from the Donetsk Oblast with a Ukrainian girl suffering panic attacks due to war, Detector Media reported on March 31.

German journalist Nanna Heitmann received the World Press Photo 2025 award for her photo titled "Underground Field Hospital," which depicts the wounded militant in the Russian-occupied Donetsk Oblast.

Another winner is a photo by German correspondent Florian Bachmeier, who showed a 6-year-old girl, Angelina, lying in her home in Borshchivka in Kharkiv Oblast, suffering from panic attacks after fleeing Russian shelling.

The World Press Photo combined the two photos on their website, calling the two images a "visual pair."

After Detector Media's request, the jury responded by emphasizing that there is "an obvious difference between a child suffering from the consequences of war and the torment of a soldier of the occupying forces who causes this suffering."

The World Press Photo divided the images on its website as of April 1.

According to the jury, pairing the two photos suggests that they should be "viewed and understood only in dialogue," which "creates an overly simplistic and false equivalence."

The World Press Photo also promised to improve the rules and procedures for dealing with applications from photographers working for state institutions, consult with photographers working in Georgia, Ukraine, and countries with repressive regimes, and try to "do good work in their difficult situations."

The World Press Photo is an annual contest for professional photographers in photojournalism and documentary photography. An international independent jury selects the best pieces in global and regional nominations.

In 2024, Ukrainian photojournalist Julia Kochetova was announced as one of the 2024 World Press Photo Contest winners for her multidisciplinary project "War Is Personal."

What Russia really wants from the Black Sea ceasefire deal

With much fanfare, the U.S. on March 25 announced it had brokered an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to “eliminate the use of force” in the Black Sea after two days of talks in Saudi Arabia. But while Kyiv said it was ready to abide by it straight away,

The Kyiv IndependentDominic Culverwell