Why are major international news agencies taking part in a trip for journalists and photographers to the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which is organized by the Russian army – the same army that besieged and destroyed much of the city? It is important for us to be able to report from both sides in a war, explains the photo chief of the AFP news agency in Paris.
For media around the world, international news agencies are important suppliers of images of the war in Ukraine. But while the fighting in Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, has raged for weeks in horrific conditions for the civilian population that had not yet fled to survive, there were few journalists and photographers to cover it.
Sometimes hardly any images came out. But on Tuesday, April 12, photo editors from newspapers and other media suddenly saw on their screens a large number of photos from Mariupol, with a special mention in the caption. A photo of Russian soldiers handing out bread to the population, for example. A photo from the bombed-out theater of the city. A photo of Russian soldiers and Ukrainian passers-by on the street (but no dead or injured people were seen).
All those photos by AFP photographer Alexander Nemenov read: “This photo was taken during a trip organized by the Russian army.”
Don’t you run the risk of becoming part of the Russian propaganda if you go on such a journey and come home with such pictures? Stéphane Arnaud, editor-in-chief of photos at AFP news agency, defends the decision to go along.
“We have been criticized for it on social media, especially by Ukrainian journalists on Twitter. But that’s exactly why we make it clear in those captions that these are photos from a trip organized by the Russian army. There should be no misunderstanding about that.”
Whether the newspapers and websites that publish the photos also state that the photos were created with the help of the Russian army, the photographer and news agency have nothing to say about this. Some newspapers and sites do, some don’t. NRC did not post any of the photos, because “it was a press tour and we don’t want to give a one-sided picture of the situation in Mariupol,” says Natalia Toret, NRC’s chief image editor.
As neutral as possible
“We think it is important to participate in such a trip,” says AFP man Arnaud. “As an international news organization we have to report from both sides in a war. We believe that we should also do this if it is under restrictive circumstances. As long as we are as transparent as possible about it. In Syria, we have also had reports from both the rebels and President Assad’s side, in Damascus. In order to do our work, we try to be as neutral as possible.
“Usually we therefore express ourselves as little as possible in public about our people in the field and how they operate. Because working there is already risky enough, and anything you say could be interpreted by one of the warring parties as helping the other side.”
Also read: In Mariupol, death is everywhere
Of the three days that the press trip to Marieopol lasted, the journalists only spent a few hours in the destroyed city, says Arnaud – he cannot say exactly how many hours. “The return journey took a lot of time.” About twenty journalists of different nationalities took part in the trip, two of them for AFP: a photographer and a cameraman for video recordings.
“The photographers were only allowed to photograph within a certain part of the city by the Russian military. Within that limited, more or less safe area, Arnaud says, Nemenov was allowed to photograph whatever he wanted. Before sending his photos to AFP, he did not have to show them to the escorts of the Russian army. Participants in the trip were ’embedded’ with the Russian army, but that didn’t mean they had to wear an army uniform as well.
In the parts of Ukraine that are not occupied by Russian troops (most of the country), press photographers also work with restrictions, Arnaud says, but these are different from the trip with the Russian army. “You need accreditation to be able to work there – and this is constantly checked at all kinds of check points. But with a few exceptions, you are free to go where you want.
“And that was clearly not the case with that tour to Mariupol. There the journalists and photographers were under the control of the Russian military with whom they had traveled there. We were invited on this trip – we don’t know why, but we had already asked permission to visit Mariupol many times before.”
The European Pressphoto Agency (EPA) also took part in the trip to Mariupol arranged by the Russian army, and mentions this in photos distributed about it.
Reuters news agency was not with them, let it know if asked. The agency did distribute photos from Mariupol last week, but will not say anything about its photographers in Ukraine for security reasons.