Mstyslav Chernov

Mstyslav Andriyovych Chernov (Мстислав Андрійович Чернов, ; born 1985) is a Ukrainian filmmaker, war correspondent, videographer, photographer, photojournalist, and novelist known for his coverage of the Revolution of Dignity, War in Donbas, the downing of flight MH17, Syrian civil war, Battle of Mosul in Iraq, and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, including the Siege of Mariupol.

For his work on the Siege of Mariupol he received the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, Deutsche Welle Freedom of Speech Award, the Knight International Journalism Awards, Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award, Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award, Free Media Awards, CJFE International Press Freedom Award, Royal Television Society Television Journalism Awards, Shevchenko National Prize.

Video materials from Mariupol became the basis of the film 20 Days in Mariupol, which was included in the competition program of the Sundance Film Festival in 2023.

The film won the Audience Award in World Cinema Documentary category.

The film later won the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary and Best Documentary Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

Chernov himself won Directors Guild of America Awards.

In 2023, he shared the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service with Evgeniy Maloletka, Vasilisa Stepanenko, and Lori Hinnant.

He has both won and been a finalist for the Livingston Award, Rory Peck Award, Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Prize, and various Royal Television Society awards.

Chernov is an Associated Press journalist and the President of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers (UAPF).

He has been a member of "Ukrainian PEN" since July 2022.

Chernov started his career in photography in 2005, working for a local Kharkiv news agency MediaPort.

He gained prominence in 2008 when he received the 1st prize at a local photography exhibition "Kharkiv through the eyes of its inhabitants".

In the same year, he had his first personal photography exhibition "Musica per somnia," conceived and organized with assistance of Yuriy Yanko, the Director of Kharkiv Philharmonic Society, who was impressed by Chernov's photographs of Sayaka Shoji, a Japanese violinist, then performing with Kharkiv Philarmonics.

Starting in 2008, Chernov worked with Chornobyl Children International, the Novick Cardiac Alliance, photographing cardiac surgeries.

Chernov's transition to documentary photography continued.

In 2009, Chernov won another first place award in local photo expo "Almost disappearing Kharkiv", covering crumbling examples of the city's older architecture.

In 2012 he lived in Cambodia, focusing on local health care and cultural projects.

Meanwhile, by 2013, Chernov's work gained national recognition.

His 2013 photographs landed him the first place in the Ukrainian contest "Photographer of the Year" in nomination documentary photography.

In the same year, Chernov was a winner of the Pentax Awards Ukraine 2013 and Best Press Photographer, Ukraine, nomination "portrait".

He photographed in over forty countries and had another personal exhibition, Rainy Season, featuring images of the Far East.

In 2013, Chernov became the President of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers (UAPF).

Chernov's installation art project Peeking in Windows – placing enlarged old photographs into windows of abandoned buildings – gained the attention of the national press and was repeated in subsequent years.

In 2013, Chernov participated in Unframe, an international documentary photography project.

In the summer of 2013, while photographing in Istanbul, Turkey, Chernov found himself in the middle of Gezi Park protests.

The night violence triggered a shift from fine-art photography and documentary photography to conflict and war reporting.

In late 2013 in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, Chernov photographed the mass protests of Euromaidan as a MediaPort and Unframe correspondent.

He was attacked and wounded several times.

In December 2013, pro-Yanukovych police injured Chernov's hand with a baton, tore up his press credentials, and destroyed his photography equipment.

In January 2014, ignoring Chernov's insignia that identified him as a member of the press, a pro-Yanukovych policeman threw a stun grenade into Chernov, injuring his legs and eye with shrapnel.

Many international reporters flocked to cover the Ukrainian Revolution which later transitioned into the annexation of Crimea and War in Donbas.

Chernov provided the international reporters with local assistance, also starting as a translator and a stringer for Associated Press.

Chernov's background in photography and his partnership with other reporters allowed him to polish his video filming skills and become a regular freelancer for Associated Press in May 2014.

By July 2014, Chernov already worked as an independent multi-format (text, photo, and video) journalist for Associated Press.

Russian military intervention to Donbas had created another conflict zone in Ukraine, and Chernov covered War in Donbas in 2014, becoming one of very few journalists who reported the conflict from both sides.

He was the first journalist to publish video footage from the scene after the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

On his third day working as an independent AP journalist, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down in the area, and Chernov provided the first images of the incident.

His reporting played an essential role in the AP's coverage of the event.

For his coverage of the event, Chernov was awarded the "Young Talent of the Year" Award by Royal Television Society.

In subsequent years as an AP journalist and war correspondent, Chernov covered the war in Syria and the Battle of Mosul in Iraq as well as the 2015 European migrant crisis in Greece, Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Austria, and Germany.