FRONTLINE and The Associated Press’ joint reporting on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine has been honored with three 2023 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards. 

The newsrooms won the RFK’s top honor, the Grand Prize, for Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes, along with awards for International TV and International Print. 

From award-winning directors and producers Thomas Jennings and Annie Wong, producer and AP global investigative reporter Erika Kinetz and her AP colleagues, the October 2022 investigative documentary Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes traces a pattern of atrocities committed by Russian troops with a focus on the Kyiv suburbs, such as Bucha, where some of the most shocking carnage was found.

The RFK judges remarked that FRONTLINE and The Associated Press “deliver[ed] a phenomenal documentary on one of the most important human rights stories of our time.” They added that Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes was “deeply sourced,  exhaustively researched and beautifully shot and edited,” and “brings this tragedy to life, demonstrating the horrors of what’s happening in Ukraine.”

The RFK Awards also recognized the corresponding print reporting on the war in Ukraine in the International Print category.

The International Print award also acknowledged War Crimes Watch Ukraine — FRONTLINE and AP’s navigable, interactive database that serves as an impartial, reported record of attacks and incidents that might spawn thousands of potential war crimes charges. The interactive database was updated regularly for a year after the start of the war and documents visual evidence of direct attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure that could constitute violations of international law.

In comments for the International Print category, the RFK judges praised the newsrooms for “provid[ing] rich, detailed and groundbreaking reporting on the horrors inflicted by Russian forces.”

“We are proud to see the breadth of our joint reporting on the war be recognized with these RFK Awards,” said FRONTLINE editor-in-chief and executive producer Raney Aronson-Rath. “We hope that this journalism serves as a record of the atrocities committed in Ukraine, and we share this honor with the brave FRONTLINE and AP reporters who told this story from the front lines.”

“We are pleased that our collaboration with FRONTLINE has been honored with RFK Awards,” said Ron Nixon, AP vice president for investigations, enterprise, partnerships and grants. “The reporting by our combined teams bears witness to the atrocities committed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and serves as a powerful reminder of why this type of journalism is so critical.”

The Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards, presented annually by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, recognize outstanding reporting on human rights and social justice issues.

Watch FRONTLINE and the AP’s award-winning documentary below:

Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes (credits)
A collaboration with The Associated Press, this documentary goes inside Russia’s war on Ukraine, tracing a pattern of atrocities committed by Russian troops with a focus on the Kyiv suburbs, such as Bucha, where some of the most shocking carnage was found. The joint documentary, directed by Tom Jennings and produced by Jennings, Annie Wong and AP global investigative reporter Erika Kinetz, draws on original footage, as well as interviews with Ukrainian citizens and prosecutors, top government officials and international war crimes experts. The documentary also includes detailed forensic analysis and a 3-D model carried out with the collaboration of SITU Research to help see the scope of the killings in Bucha. (Aired on PBS October 2022)

FRONTLINE PRESS CONTACT: Anne Husted | Manager, PR & Communications | 617.300.5312| frontlinemedia@wgbh.org

AP PRESS CONTACT: Nicole Meir | Media Relations Manager | 212-621-7536 | nmeir@ap.org