The newsrooms were honored for their collaborative, multiplatform reporting on the war in Ukraine. 

The Investigative Reporters & Editors organization has honored FRONTLINE and The Associated Press’ joint reporting on the war in Ukraine with IRE Awards.

The IRE has awarded Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes with the Tom Renner IRE Medal. The 2022 FRONTLINE and AP investigative documentary 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.

From award-winning director Tom Jennings, producer Annie Wong, AP global investigative reporter Erika Kinetz and her AP colleagues, the joint documentary and print reporting drew on exclusive 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 to help see the scope of the killings in Bucha, created with the visual investigations practice SITU Research.

Together, FRONTLINE and AP uncovered exclusive and harrowing evidence that linked possible war crimes in Bucha through the chain of command to one of Russia’s top generals — evidence that prosecutors hope might help build a case against Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Russian leaders in court.

In the IRE’s official announcement, the award’s judges noted that Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes offered “extraordinary reporting on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that painstakingly documented visual evidence of war crimes and told heartbreaking stories about those impacted by those crimes.”

The judges added, “Under dangerous conditions, this team of journalists created an interactive database and provided on-the-ground reporting in real-time, often from witnesses to these atrocities. The coverage, both poignant and emotional, shed light on likely violations of international humanitarian law and the laws of war.”

Earlier this year, FRONTLINE and AP’s broader reporting on the war in Ukraine — the multiplatform investigation War Crimes Watch Ukraine — earned the first place prize in the IRE’s 2022 Philip Meyer Journalism Award, recognizing “the best work using techniques that are part of precision journalism, computer-assisted reporting and social science research.”

In War Crimes Watch Ukraine, FRONTLINE and AP gathered, verified and documented evidence of potential war crimes in Ukraine, including direct attacks on civilians, and attacks on civilian infrastructure including hospitals, schools, residential areas and sites protected under international humanitarian law.

Both Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes and Crime Scene Bucha, a short documentary in partnership with SITU Research, were also a part of the multiplatform reporting that went into War Crimes Watch Ukraine.

In the IRE’s official Philip Meyer Journalism Award announcement, judges recognized the newsrooms for “collect[ing] evidence of war crimes in Ukraine and stor[ing] the information in an updated public database to tell stories about attacks on venues such as hospitals, schools and a theater.”

The IRE judges added: “This was a riveting piece of journalism detailing unspeakable atrocities that continue to this day.”

“When the war began over one year ago, we joined forces with The Associated Press to cover this conflict from all angles,” said FRONTLINE editor-in-chief and executive producer Raney Aronson-Rath. “It’s an honor to see the breadth of our joint, mixed-media reporting on the war in Ukraine now be recognized by the IRE. We hope Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes and War Crimes Watch Ukraine shed light on the brutal reality Ukrainians are facing daily as this war wages on.”

Annually, IRE Awards recognize “the best in investigative reporting by print, broadcast and online media,” as noted on the organization’s official website.

“The winners of the 2022 IRE Awards reflect the undeniable tenacity of journalists working day in and day out to hold powerful people and systems accountable,” said Barbara Rodriguez, chair of the IRE Awards contest committee, as noted in the IRE’s official announcement. “Through a combination of narrative storytelling, data and compelling visuals, many of the entries this year put a spotlight on the lives of everyday people and showed the public the high stakes of policy choices on those lives. This year we also saw newsrooms fight hard to uncover information that some officials attempted to keep hidden. There were also efforts to keep journalists safe in dangerous conditions — and honor their legacy posthumously. Congratulations to the winners and finalists.”

The IRE’s also noted that this year’s winners were selected from more than 400 entries. Since 1979, the IRE Awards have recognized the “most outstanding watchdog journalism of the year.”

You can explore our award-winning reporting below:

Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes (credits)

War Crimes Watch Ukraine

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