A determined AP Moscow team used months of strong contact-building in Moscow’s hospitals to get first access to an intensive care unit — several days ahead of the competition — at a time when Russia is facing almost daily records for both COVID infections and deaths.
Video journalist Kostya Manenkov and chief photographer Alexander Zemlianichenko won permission to work inside the ”Red Zone” at Moscow City Clinical Hospital 52, where the staff is facing the crush of the country’s COVID-19 crisis. The pair gave AP writer Vladimir Isachenkov perfect material to explore the lagging pace of vaccination across the country, a source of despair among the front line doctors and nurses. And their visuals gave AP customers an array of powerful images telling the story of COVID in Russia.
The broadcast video was AP’s top European video during last week, receiving truly international attention from major clients.
Medical personnel prepare to move a COVID-19 patient in an ICU at the Moscow City Clinical Hospital 52 in Moscow, Oct. 19, 2021.
AP Photo / Alexander Zemlianichenko
Dr. Irina P. Beloglazova, head of the Internal Medicine Department No. 4 at Moscow City Clinical Hospital 52, is interviewed by the AP in Moscow, Oct. 19, 2021. Medical personnel blame Russia’s surging COVID-19 cases and deaths on a slow rate of vaccination.
AP Photo / Alexander Zemlianichenko
Medical personnel treat a patient with COVID-19 in an ICU at Moscow City Clinical Hospital 52, in Moscow, Oct. 19, 2021.
AP Photo / Alexander Zemlianichenko
Dr. Georgy N. Arbolishvili, head of the Resuscitation and Intensive Care Unit No. 3, at Moscow City Clinical Hospital 52, is interviewed at the hospital by the AP, Oct. 19, 2021.
AP Photo / Alexander Zemlianichenko
Medical staff treat a patient with COVID-19 in an ICU at Moscow City Clinical Hospital 52 in Moscow, Oct. 19, 2021.
AP Photo / Alexander Zemlianichenko
Medical staff transport a patient with COVID-19 in an ICU at the Moscow City Clinical Hospital 52 in Moscow, Oct. 19, 2021.
AP Photo / Alexander Zemlianichenko