Anna Politkovskaya Award goes to Ukrainian and Russian women journalists imprisoned by Russia
The international human rights organisation RAW in War (Reach All Women in War) has awarded the 2026 Anna Politkovskaya Award to Ukrainian and Russian women journalists in detention in Russia and in Russian-occupied territories, according to a press release.
“The journalist profession has become one of the most dangerous today. This is hardly surprising; it has always been the case in times of war. The burden falls particularly heavily on women when men take up arms instead of pens,” said Russian human rights defender Svetlana Gannushkina.
“The award being presented today to Ukrainian and Russian women journalists currently in prison once again unites the women of Ukraine and Russia. They did not fight against each other; they were all fighting for peace. They were all doing their job as journalists.”
The award’s nominations committee said it “celebrates the courage and integrity of the Ukrainian and Russian women journalists, who have risked their freedom and even their lives to report about the war and speak out against human rights violations, war crimes and the escalating repression against journalists, human rights defenders and anti-war voices in Russia.”
The committee also called on the Russian authorities to release all imprisoned women journalists immediately and unconditionally, and to hold to account those responsible for subjecting them to torture and sexual violence in prison.
RAW in WAR singled out several journalists who have been persecuted, tortured and even killed for their work. Among them is Victoria Roshchyna, who covered the siege of Mariupol and Russia's war crimes against civilians in the occupied territories. She was detained in August 2023 and died in September 2024 as a result of torture and ill-treatment.
Another Ukrainian journalist persecuted and tortured in Russia is 64-year-old Iryna Levchenko from Mariupol. She and her husband were abducted in Melitopol in 2023. In detention, she was tied to a chair with a bag over her head and tortured with electric shocks. On 3 September, Levchenko was sentenced to 15 years in prison on espionage charges.
At least three other Ukrainian women journalists are currently held in Russian prisons: Anastasia Hlukhovska, Iryna Danylovich and Yana Suvorova.
At least 11 Russian women journalists are also behind bars and have faced persecution and ill-treatment by the Russian authorities. They include medical and science journalist Daria Shipacheva, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for treason and sending money to relatives in Ukraine.
Maria Ponomarenko, a journalist from the Altai region, received multiple lengthy prison sentences for a social media post about the bombing of the Mariupol theater. She continues to speak out against the war from inside prison and has made several suicide attempts.
The organisers also named other women journalists who remain in custody: Olga Komleva, Antonina Favorskaya, Nika Novak, Vasilisa Shishkina, Alexandra Alexandrova, Alla Dongur-Ool, Kapitolina Averina, Natalya Lazaricheva and Elena Matushevskaya.
The Anna Politkovskaya Award was established by RAW in WAR in 2007 in memory of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was murdered on 7 October 2006. It is given to women human rights defenders working in conflict zones.
Previous winners include Natalia Estemirova, a journalist and staff member of the human rights center Memorial in Chechnya; Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich; Yemeni human rights defender Radhya al-Mutawakel; and many others.