Photojournalism 2nd place winner

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 important 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. This series of photos reflected the most awful events that I witnessed in 2014-2015.

Valery Melnikov is a graduate of Stavropol State University ran on becoming an award winning photographer and reporter, who over a decade successfully works for international news agency "RIA Novosti" and "Kommersant" newspaper. Valery has also worked as a freelancer for AFP news agency in 2009-2010. When not on the work assignments, Valery runs multiple independent projects and exhibitions of his images that he brings back from those trips. His professional biography includes coverage of Ukranian conflict of 2014 to present; uprising of Mali Republic in 2013, Syrian Civil war coverage in 2012-2015; Lebanese war in 2006; Infamous conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia in 2008 and hostage taking raids by terrorists in Stavropol region back in 2001 and Beslan in 2004.
Awards: Winner of the “The Circle of Life” 2016 contest , International Photo festival “Vilnius Photo Circle”, Lithuania; 2016 — Two Awards of Excellence in the Picture of the Year International (POYi), USA; 2015 — 1st Prize in Photojournalism category of the LensCulture Visual Storytelling Awards, USA; 2015 — 2nd Prize in the current affairs category of the Sony World Photography awards, UK 2015 — ANI - PIXPALACE AWARD, France; 2015 — 2nd Prize in the DAYS Japan.