The competition was established to honor the memory of Khaled Alkhateb, a journalist who worked for RT Arabic as a freelance correspondent before being killed in a shelling by the Daesh* terrorist group in Syria in 2017.
The jury of the contest selected the best works from 25 countries in three categories — Best Video Journalism from a Conflict Zone: Short Form; Best Video Journalism from a Conflict Zone: Long Form; Best Written Journalism from a Conflict Zone.
"The works we received shed light on conflicts that are taking place quite literally all around the world, from Latin America and Europe to Africa and Southeast Asia. Each entry is, in a way, a small step toward peace," RT's deputy editor-in-chief, Anna Belkina said, as quoted in a press release.
Fausto Biloslavo from Italy won in the short video journalism category for his series of reports from the Libyan capital of Tripoli, which suffers from the ongoing armed conflict between the Libyan National Army (LNA) and forces loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA).
Amitabh P Revi from India won the jury's heart with his long-form video footage of the Syrian city of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, that was turned into ruins by Daesh. Specialists are now working to restore the historic site.
Revi shared his victory with Anton Stepanenko from Russia who was also announced winner in the same category for his film about life in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the proclaimed Daesh capital that was virtually erased from existence by airstrikes carried out by a US-led international coalition in an effort to eliminate terrorists.
Kenneth R. Rosen from the United States won the award for journalism in the written category for his series of publications about the border areas between Syria and Iraq, which are divided by a wall that was erected in 2018 as a line of defense against Daesh militants.
The international jury included prominent news media experts and professionals on covering war and armed conflicts.
*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia
