Journalists from Russia, Syria and India win the RT award for military correspondents

“Our award recognizes the work of military correspondents who travel to hot spots with a camera and microphone every year. Their work did not stop even during the global coronavirus epidemic. We are grateful to everyone who applied for participation, and we congratulate the winners, ”said Anna Belkina, RT deputy editor-in-chief.

The Khaled Al-Khatib International Prize is awarded in three categories: Best Work from a Conflict Zone: Short Video, Best Work from a Conflict Zone: Long Video, and Best Work from a Conflict Zone: Text. Journalists from 16 countries claimed the victory.

WINNERS:

1. "Best Work from a Conflict Zone: Short Video".
- Mohamed Ali (Syria), "A truce has begun in Idlib"

The report tells about the situation in the Syrian province of Idlib, where, as a result of an agreement between Russia and Turkey, a ceasefire came into force.

2. "Best Work from a Conflict Zone: Long Video".
- Alexander Konevich (Russia), "Russian military in Syria"

The series of reports tells how the Russian Armed Forces are helping the Syrian military and civilian population to overcome the consequences of the ongoing conflict.

3. "Best Work from a Conflict Zone: Text".
- Ruchi Kumar (India), "Why Iran Is Massively Deporting Afghan Refugees"

The publication tells about the difficult conditions in which Afghan refugees find themselves in Iran. The country's authorities annually deport hundreds of thousands of people to their homeland.

The jury of the Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards 2020 included war correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny, who was awarded three TEFI television awards for his work in Syria and Ukraine, and RT military commander Murad Gazdiev, who covered major armed conflicts in recent years and mass protests around the world. The works of the participants were also evaluated by journalist, writer, expert in the field of US and Latin American foreign policy Eva Golinger, director of development of the international association of broadcasters AIB Tom Regg, war correspondent for the Italian newspaper il Giornale Gian Mikalessin, expert on Arab countries, correspondent for the Egyptian newspaper Youm7 Ahmed Gomaa and Greek journalist, international prize winner Konstantinos Antonopoulos.

In 2019, representatives of Russia, the USA, Italy and India became the laureates of the Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards, who spoke about the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Libya. The awards were presented at the RT Media TALK conference “In the conflict zone: risks and responsibility of journalists”. It was attended by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, the special representative of the President of the Russian Federation for digital and technological development Dmitry Peskov, editor-in-chief of RT and MIA Rossiya Segodnya Margarita Simonyan, as well as Russian and foreign journalists.

The Khaled Al khateb International Memorial Awards honor 25-year-old journalist Khaled al-Khatib, who has worked with RT Arabic. Khaled al-Khatib was killed by rocket attacks from militants in the Syrian province of Homs on July 30, 2017. In his reports, he covered the battles of the Syrian government forces with terrorists. In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree posthumously awarding Khaled al-Khatyb with the Medal of Courage, which was presented to his family at the first awards ceremony.