As war rages, AP documents the upheaval of millions.
With hundreds of hours of live coverage, gripping portraits of people fleeing and broader takes on the impact of the migration wave, AP’s multiformat team covering people displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has provided unrivaled coverage of Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II.
AP journalists posted at Ukraine’s borders with Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova, and within Ukraine itself, have put a human face to the mass movement of refugees, mostly women and children who have left their homes traumatized and exhausted, sometimes after being trapped for days or weeks in their basements to escape bombardment.
With regional news director Amer Cohadzic supervising the operation across formats, Rome-based senior producer Maria Grazia Murru coordinating video coverage and Czech Republic video journalist Adam Pemble organizing logistics, the teams cooperated seamlessly across borders and formats to spot trends in the flow of refugees, helping each other broaden their with observations and interviews from multiple locations.
A Ukrainian woman reacts after arriving at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, Feb. 27, 2022. Medyka has been a main entry point for tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.
AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu
An elderly woman uses a walking stick as refugees, mostly women with children, arrive at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, March 5, 2022, fleeing the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu
People who fled the war in Ukraine rest inside an indoor sports facility being used as a refugee center in the border village of Medyka, Poland, March 15, 2022.
AP Photo / Petros Giannakouris
A Polish soldier carries a baby of a Ukrainian refugee who arrived at the border crossing in Medyka, southeastern Poland, March 2, 2022.
AP Photo / Markus Schreiber
Women fleeing Ukraine, walk near the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, March 5, 2022.
AP Photo / Markus Schreiber
A woman wraps herself in a blanket to keep warm as she waits in a crowd of refugees after fleeing Ukraine, at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, March 7, 2022.
AP Photo / Markus Schreiber
A woman holding a child cries after fleeing Ukraine, at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, March 7, 2022.
AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu
A woman kisses a child after fleeing Ukraine, at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, March 7, 2022.
AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu
Masha Fesenko, from Kyiv, arrives at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, March 8, 2022.
AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu
Axana Opalenko holds 2-month-old Meron in an effort to warm him after fleeing from Ukraine, at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, March 9, 2022.
AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu
Tatiana Kostyuk, from Zaporozhye, gives food to a child after fleeing Ukraine, at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, March 9, 2022.
AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu
Ina Karpanko, right, who lives in Poland, reunites with her son Vanya and his grandmother, who is fleeing the war from neighboring Ukraine, at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, March 9, 2022.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Refugees try to stay warm after fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, March 1, 2022. All day long, trains and buses carried people fleeing Ukraine to the safety of Polish border towns.
AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu
Refugees, mostly women with children, rest inside a tent after fleeing Ukraine, at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, March 6, 2022.
AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu
After fleeing Ukraine, people at the Medyka, Poland, border crossing wait at a makeshift camp to board a train for Krakow, March 10, 2022.
AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu
A train carrying refugees fleeing Ukraine crosses the border at Medyka, Poland, March 7, 2022.
AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu
Refugees fleeing war in Ukraine gather at night at the Medyka border crossing into Poland, March 10, 2022.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
A woman losing consciousness receives help from Polish medics as Ukrainian refugees pass through border crossing at Medyka, Poland, March 23, 2022.
AP Photo / Sergei Grits
Balloons representing the Ukrainian flag float in a field at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, March 11, 2022.
AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu
Displaced Ukrainians arrive at the Lviv train station in western Ukraine, March 5, 2022, many seeking passage to Poland or other border countries.
AP Photo / Bernat Armangue
African residents of Ukraine wait on the platform of the Lviv railway station in western Ukraine, Feb. 27, 2022. Days after the Russian invasion, thousands of people massed at Lviv’s main train station attempting to board trains that would take them to the safety of Europe.
AP Photo / Bernat Armangue
An elderly Ukrainian woman eats a slice of bread inside Lviv’s crowded main railway station, Feb. 28, 2022, in the relative safety of western Ukraine.
AP Photo / Bernat Armangue
Passengers wait for a train to Poland inside Lviv’s main railway station, Feb. 27, 2022.
AP Photo / Bernat Armangue
A baby sleeps while people wait for trains out of Ukraine inside Lviv’s main railway station, Feb. 28, 2022.
AP Photo / Bernat Armangue
Displaced Ukrainians crowd aboard a Poland-bound train in Lviv, western Ukraine, March 13, 2022.
AP Photo / Bernat Armangue
Displaced Ukrainians take shelter in an auditorium in Lviv, western Ukraine, March 2, 2022.
AP Photo / Bernat Armangue
Ukrainian families say goodbye as they prepare to board a bus to Poland at Lviv’s main bus station in western Ukraine, March 1, 2022.
AP Photo / Bernat Armangue
Ukrainians prepare to board a bus to Poland at Lviv’s main bus station, March 1, 2022.
AP Photo / Bernat Armangue
Displaced Ukrainians on a Poland-bound train bid farewell in Lviv, western Ukraine, March 22, 2022.
AP Photo / Bernat Armangue
Ludmila, left, says goodbye to her granddaughter Kristina at the train station in Odessa, southern Ukraine, March 22, 2022.
AP Photo / Petros Giannakouris
Ukrainian refugees walk past vehicles lining up to cross the border from Ukraine into Moldova, at the Mayaky-Udobne crossing border point in Ukraine, Feb. 26, 2022.
AP Photo / Sergei Grits
A refugee fleeing the conflict in neighboring Ukraine holds her pet cat at the border in Siret, Romania, March 5, 2022.
AP Photo / Andreea Alexandru
A firefighter holds the baby of a refugee fleeing the conflict in neighboring Ukraine at the border in Siret, Romania, March 7, 2022.
AP Photo / Andreea Alexandru
A refugee fleeing the conflict in neighboring Ukraine sits on a bus at the border in Siret, Romania, March 8, 2022.
AP Photo / Andreea Alexandru
A refugee fleeing the war in neighboring Ukraine peers from a tent after crossing the border at Siret, Romania, March 14, 2022.
AP Photo / Andreea Alexandru
A refugee fleeing the war in neighboring Ukraine looks out a bus window after crossing the border at Siret, Romania, March 14, 2022.
AP Photo / Andreea Alexandru
A refugee fleeing the war in neighboring Ukraine sits in the banquet room of a hotel after crossing the border at Siret, Romania, March 10, 2022.
AP Photo / Andreea Alexandru
A boy from Ukraine sleeps on a bus after arriving at Keleti station in Budapest, Hungary, March 18, 2022.
AP Photo / Anna Szilagyi
A woman from Ukraine sits with her children in the car of a volunteer taking them to a hostel after arriving at Keleti station in Budapest, Hungary, March 18, 2022.
AP Photo / Anna Szilagyi
A man from Ukraine holds his sons’ hands after arriving at Nyugati station in Budapest, Hungary, March 18, 2022.
AP Photo / Anna Szilagyi
Refugees from Ukraine rest inside a sports facility in Chisinau, Moldova, March 5, 2022.
AP Photo / Sergei Grits
Women fleeing Ukraine stand on a platform at the train station in Przemysl, Poland, March 3, 2022.
AP Photo / Markus Schreiber
Svetlana, 76, who fled from Odessa, Ukraine, sits at the border crossing in Kroscienko, Poland, March 8, 2022.
AP Photo / Markus Schreiber
A woman traveling with others fleeing Ukraine looks out the window of a bus near the border crossing in Korczowa, Poland, March 5, 2022.
AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu
A woman holds her head in her hands as she sits on a cot in a shelter for displaced persons fleeing Ukraine, inside a school gymnasium in Przemysl, Poland, March 8, 2022.
AP Photo / Markus Schreiber
Refugees from Ukraine arrive at the railway station in Przemysl, Poland, Feb. 27, 2022.
AP Photo / Czarek Sokolowski
At the National Stadium in Warsaw, Poland, people wait in a line to apply for Polish ID numbers that will entitle them to work and receive free health care and education, March 21, 2022.
AP Photo / Czarek Sokolowski
People who fled the war in Ukraine wait at the train station in Przemysl, southeastern Poland, March 17, 2022.
AP Photo / Petros Giannakouris
People who fled the war in Ukraine wait at the train station in Przemysl, southeastern Poland, March 17, 2022.
AP Photo / Petros Giannakouris
A dog and people who fled the war in Ukraine rest at a refugee center set up in an exhibition hall in Nadarzyn, near Warsaw, Poland, March 23, 2022.
AP Photo / Petr David Josek
A dog rescued in Ukraine with serious injuries to its hind legs is prepared for surgery at the Ada veterinarian clinic in Przemysl, Poland, March 14, 2022. A veterinary clinic in eastern Poland has set up a rescue service for pets left behind in Ukraine during the war. They have already helped rescue more than 400 animals from the war zone.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Refugees fleeing conflict in neighboring Ukraine arrive in Przemysl, Poland, Feb. 27, 2022.
AP Photo / Petr David Josek
Refugees fleeing conflict in neighboring Ukraine arrive in Przemysl, Poland, Feb. 26, 2022.
AP Photo / Petr David Josek
A child refugee from neighboring Ukraine looks through a bus window in Przemysl, Poland, March 9, 2022.
AP Photo / Daniel Cole
Seven-year-old Amellia Anisovych, a refugee from Ukraine, sings the Ukraine national anthem at the start of a fundraising concert in Lodz, Poland, March 20, 2022. Anisovych became widely known for singing a song from the movie “Frozen” in a Kyiv bomb shelter in early March. She has since come to Poland with her grandmother and brother. Her parents remained in Kyiv.
AP Photo / Marian Zubrzycki
Many of the text contributions have come from Vanessa Gera in Poland, Justin Spike in Hungary and Stephen McGrath in Romania. Still images have come from photographers Andreea Alexandru, Bernat Armangue, Daniel Cole, Petros Giannakouris, Sergei Grits, Petr Josek, Visar Kryeziu, Markus Schreiber, Czarek Sokolowski and Anna Szilagyi, among others. Video contributors have included Florent Bajrami, Rafal Niedzielski, Helena Alves, Bela Szandelszky, Eldar Emric and satellite dish operator Zenel Zhinipotoku. Regional migration team leader Renata Brito has contributed from Spain, Romania and Ukraine.
AP staffers covering the exodus from Ukraine pose at the Medyka border post, the main border crossing for refugees from Ukraine entering Poland, March 20, 2022. From left, Athens video journalist Srdjan Nedeljkovic, Rome senior producer Maria Grazia Murru, Prague video journalist Adam Pemble and satellite dish transmission operator Zenel Zhinipotoku.
AP / Michal Szczepaniak
AP’s coverage started a week before the war began, when a multiformat team documented the calm prevailing at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, which just days later would become a main entry point for tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.
In the month since, the team and colleagues elsewhere in Europe have worked tirelessly to capture the surge, from the stress on countries accepting the brunt of new arrivals to the threat of human trafficking to the generosity shown by volunteers. Some in host countries have opened their homes to the refugees — drawing comparisons with the less-than-receptive welcome shown to many refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Africa during Europe’s previous migration crisis in 2015-16.
For chronicling the exodus of an estimated 3.5 million Ukrainians, the biggest displacement of refugees within Europe since the 1940s, with compassion, vigor and dedication to the story, the AP border/refugee teams earn Best of the Week – First Winner.
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