The Izvestia photojournalist became the winner of the Alexander Yefremov competition

Pavel Volkov, a photojournalist from Izvestia, became the winner in the new nomination of the Alexander Yefremov reportage photography competition.

On July 29, the jubilee XXV All-Russian Alexander Yefremov reportage photography competition, dedicated to a native of this city, a Tyumen photojournalist and military commander, who died in Grozny on May 12, 2000 on an editorial business trip with employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, ended in Tobolsk.

This year, the United Russia faction established a new nomination for the "War in the Lens" contest, in which military personnel participating in a special military operation, war correspondents and volunteers could take part. Pavel Volkov, a photojournalist from Izvestia, became the winner for his series of works "Kursk. Invasion", which is dedicated to the civilians of the region who were forced to leave their homes in order to survive.

The jury awarded the second place to Alice Severnaya from St. Petersburg for the series "There are people here", shot in the DPR while the author was a volunteer at the Patriarchal Humanitarian Mission, and the third place to the photographer of the online edition of NEWS.Alexey Belkin from Podolsk for the series "Guys of Steel" about the rehabilitation of wounded members of the SVO.

In total, 321 applications were received for the 2026 contest from authors from all over Russia, from Sakhalin to Donbass. The jury members were: Valery Melnikov (Moscow), Alyona Kochetkova (Kaluga), Natalia Udartseva (Moscow), Lesya Kim and Victoria Gerasimyuk from Tyumen.

The final photo exhibition of the finalists of the competition can be seen on the project's website, as well as in the Tobolsk museum complex "Viceroy's Palace" in August, in the Tyumen historical park "Russia my Story" in September, in the Yalutorovsky museum "Trade Rows" in October and in the Ishim Palace of Culture in November.