RT has started accepting applications for the 2022 edition of the Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards for best journalism from conflict zones. This year, the awards' theme revolves around Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and the conflict in the Eastern European country in general.
The awards will be granted in two categories: Best Journalism from a Conflict Zone for coverage of the special operation and Best Humanitarian Journalism for stories about humanitarian efforts, assistance to civilians and refugees, and return to peaceful life.
Each winner will receive a cash prize of 200,000 rubles (approx. $3,150).
Last year, war correspondents and journalists from Russia, the US, and Yemen were recognized for their professionalism and outstanding coverage from conflict zones. Russian journalist Alexander Lukyanov was named the winner of Best Video Journalism from a Conflict Zone for his work, "Rumbling Silence," from the Donbass front line, where he documented ceasefire violations by Ukrainian forces.
The 2021 award for Best Written Journalism from a Conflict Zone was given to Anuj Chopra from the US for an on-the-ground report revealing the humanitarian crisis in the Yemeni region of Marib. The prize for Best Humanitarian Journalism: After the War went to Yemeni journalist Rania Abdallah for the documentary "Life, Terminated" covering the armed conflict in southwestern Yemen, and to American Neha Wadekar with the investigative article "The Hidden Story Behind the Fight for Cabo Delgado," exposing the true causes of the upsurge of radical Islamism in Mozambique.
The award was established in 2018 in memory of Khaled Alkhateb, who was working for RT Arabic as a freelance correspondent and was killed on duty in Daesh* shelling of Homs, Syria, on July 30, 2017.
*Daesh, also known as ISIS/Islamic State/IS, is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.