Ukrainian photographer Evgeniy Maloletka wins European region at World Press Photo 2026
Ukrainian photographer Evgeniy Maloletka has won the European region of the World Press Photo 2026 contest with his photograph titled “Russian attack on Kyiv,” the contest website reported.
The image shows Kyiv resident Valeriya Syniuk sitting outside her apartment building after a Russian missile struck the building opposite hers overnight into April 24, 2025, while she was sleeping inside her own home.
In the caption, Maloletka wrote that Russian aerial targets attacked at least five residential districts that night, killing 13 people and injuring 90 others.
“Russia’s intensifying air campaign continues to devastate life across the country, systematically targeting infrastructure, hospitals, and educational institutions. By December 2025, at least 14,775 civilians had been killed since the invasion began. April 2025 was the worst month for child casualties in nearly three years,” he said.
Maloletka previously won World Press Photo of the Year in 2023 for his image from the bombed maternity hospital in Mariupol, showing rescuers and police carrying out a wounded pregnant woman.