In 2022, a team of journalists from the Associated Press became trapped in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
As they struggled to continue working amid the Russian bombardment, they became increasingly aware how important their presence was. The only international news crew left in the city, the team captured images that told the real story of what was happening — including the bombing of a maternity hospital that the Russians argued was fake. For the people remaining in Mariupol, the AP crew were not just witnesses, they were a lifeline: providing information to the outside world that could bring crucial assistance, and bringing information back to a community cut off from communication.
