Georgian journalists accuse World Press Photo of legitimizing Russian propaganda

This was reported by NewsGeorgia and Ukrinform.

“By awarding an award to a photo essay created by a TASS employee, World Press Photo legitimizes an agency known for spreading disinformation. This decision undermines independent media, undermines the truth, and allows false narratives to gain widespread acceptance,” the Georgian photojournalists said in a joint statement.

They expressed their dissatisfaction with World Press Photo's decision.

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“We are deeply shocked by World Press Photo's decision to award the 2025 prize to a representative of the Russian state human rights organization TASS for his photo report on the Georgian protests – actions aimed directly against Russian influence and occupation of Georgia. Awarding a photographer who represents the Kremlin's rhetoric for covering anti-Russian protests is not only a blatant paradox, but also a direct insult to all those who risk their lives to show Russian interference in Georgia's sovereignty and future,” the statement said.

The authors of the appeal added that TASS is “distorting the facts about the war in Ukraine,” as was the case during Russia’s war against Georgia in 2008.

They also recalled that Tereshchenko fully supported Russian aggression in Ukraine, describing the invasion as a “liberation.”

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As reported by Ukrinform, the winners of the World Press Photo competition in the Single Photo category were German photographer Florian Bachmeier with a photograph of six-year-old Angelina, who has suffered from panic attacks since the beginning of the war, and Nanna Heitmann with an image of a wounded soldier in a Russian field hospital near Bakhmut.

In the Stories category, the World Press Photo award went to Russian news agency TASS photojournalist Mikhail Tereshchenko for his coverage of protests in Georgia.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry condemned the awarding of a photograph of a Russian occupier next to a photograph of a Ukrainian child who suffered from the war.