Ukraine awoke Monday to another day of war \u2013 Russian drones blasted buildings in the Kharkiv and Odesa regions \u2013 but also the news it had won its first Oscar. The best documentary victory for Mstyslav Chernov\u2019s \u201c20 Days in Mariupol,\u201d a harrowing first-person account by The Associated Press journalist of the early days of Russia\u2019s invasion in 2022, was bittersweet. \u201cThis is the first Oscar in Ukrainian history, and I\u2019m honored,\u201d an emotional Chernov said Sunday at the Academy Awards.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably I will be the first director on this stage to say I wish I\u2019d never made this film, I wish to be able to exchange this to Russia never attacking Ukraine.\u201d Back home in his native Ukraine, the award was applauded for exposing the brutal devastation of the war and the message Chernov had sent to the world from one of the biggest stages. \u201cI really liked what the director said during the award acceptance, that it would have been better if he hadn\u2019t made this film and if all of this hadn\u2019t happened,\u201d said Oleksii Kurka, a Kyiv office worker.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that Ukraine received its first Oscar, and that the world will see again the horrors that the Russian army committed in Mariupol, is certainly a victory of truth over falsehood,\u201d he added. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the award as \u201cimportant for our entire country\u201d and said he was grateful to the team and thanked journalists across the world still covering the war despite a decrease of attention as it has dragged into its third year and as much of the world\u2019s focus has turned to Israel\u2019s war against Hamas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe horrors of Mariupol must never be forgotten,\u201d he said on social media. \u201cThe entire world must see and remember what the inhumane Russian invasion brought to our people. Cities and villages were destroyed, homes were burned, and entire families were killed by Russian shells and buried in their own backyards.\u201d The AP team of Chernov, photographer Evgeniy Maloletka and producer Vasilisa Stepanenko arrived an hour before Russia began bombing the port city.<\/p>\n
Two weeks later, they were the last journalists working for an international outlet in the city, sending crucial dispatches to the outside world showing civilian casualties of all ages, the digging of mass graves, the bombing of a maternity hospital and the sheer extent of the devastation. The Oscar \u2013 and nomination \u2013 was a first for both Chernov, an AP video journalist, and the 178-year-old news organization. The documentary was a joint production of AP and PBS\u2019 \u201cFrontline.\u201d It was the first win for \u201cFrontline\u201d after two previous nominations.<\/p>\n
Statuettes were awarded to Chernov, producer and editor Michelle Mizner and producer Raney Aronson-Rath. AP Vice President Derl McCrudden, also a credited producer on the film, was among those onstage to accept the award. Police officer Volodymyr Nikulin, who is featured prominently in the film as he helped the crew cover the story and ultimately escape Mariupol as Russian forces closed in, said he was happy the movie had won the prestigious award.<\/p>\n
Nikulin, who was later injured helping victims of a Russian attack on Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, ferried the crew around Mariupol in a desperate attempt to help them find a place where they could transmit their footage because he said it was vital the world could see what was happening. He said the film served as an important reminder of \u201cthe most difficult time for our country.\u201d \u201cRight now, we may be facing a similarly challenging moment,\u201d he told AP in Kyiv on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this film has shown that we can defend our country, that we are united. And at this time, if the world sees that we are fighting, the crimes the aggressor is committing in our country, how it destroys our cities, I believe that the world will support our efforts in the fight, and this will be decisive at this time.\u201d Ukraine\u2019s human rights chief Dmytro Lubinets praised the documentary for showing \u201cthe truth to the whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis awards ceremony is an opportunity to address millions of people. This is what the film director did by mentioning the occupation, prisoners of war, killing of Ukrainians by Russia, and illegal abduction of civilians,\u201d he wrote on Telegram. The award, one of many the documentary has garnered. including the Pulitzer Prize, comes as Ukraine\u2019s forces and ammunition are depleted and Russian troops are trying to push deeper into the Ukraine-held western part of the Donetsk region and penetrate the Kharkiv region to the north.<\/p>\n
Drone attacks overnight damaged two multi-storey buildings, a hotel and a municipal building in the eastern city of Kharkiv, said regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov. No casualties were reported. An infrastructure facility in the Odesa region was destroyed and windows were shattered, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said. The award marks the second consecutive Oscar documentary awarded for a film that has shone a harsh light on Russia. Last year, \u201cNavalny,\u201d about Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who died just last month in prison, won best documentary.<\/p>\n
Navalny was honored Sunday at the start of the award show\u2019s section recognizing those who died in the past year. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday refused to comment on \u201c20 Days in Mariupol,\u201d saying it wasn\u2019t the Kremlin\u2019s prerogative. Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Navalny, congratulated the Mariupol team on \u201ctheir truly deserving and important Oscar victory.\u201d Belarusian opposition leader in exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya sent \u201cheartfelt congratulations\u201d to Chernov, thanking him on X for \u201cshowing us that the truth is always stronger than lies.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the streets of Kyiv, residents were hopeful the film would reawaken people to Ukraine\u2019s plight and motivate allies to provide the support needed to repel Russia. \u201cPeople from around the world, I mean democratic countries, democratic people, need to empathize with us more,\u201d said tour guide Serhii Uzlov. \u201cUnderstand that Russia is not only the enemy of Ukraine but the enemy of the entire democratic world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ukraine awoke Monday to another day of war \u2013 Russian drones blasted buildings in the Kharkiv and Odesa regions \u2013\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":33801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[186],"tags":[11136,9533,8560,1563,1450,2688,11138,11018,8534,7709,11139,11137,3019,2110,9055,265,470,2965,1905],"class_list":["post-33800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-20-days-in-mariupol","tag-aggression","tag-bombings","tag-children","tag-civilians","tag-destruction","tag-devastation","tag-displacement","tag-documentary","tag-drone-attacks","tag-eastern-ukraine","tag-first-person-account","tag-hospitals","tag-missile-strikes","tag-oscars","tag-russia-ukraine-war","tag-ukrainian-president-volodymyr-zelensky","tag-victory","tag-war-crimes"],"reading_time":"5 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}