Two of Ukraine’s most influential journalists Win Gongadze Prize

Two of Ukraine’s most influential journalists – Olga Rudenko and Mykhailo Tkach – have received Gongadze Prize – Ukraine’s top journalism award amid wartime reporting and investigations.

Ukrainian journalists Olga Rudenko and Mykhailo Tkach have been named the 2026 recipients of the Georgiy Gongadze Prize, one of the country’s most prestigious journalism awards recognizing excellence in independent reporting and contributions to the media landscape.

Rudenko, editor-in-chief and co-founder of the English-language outlet The Kyiv Independent, described the recognition as both a shock and an honor for her entire team.

“Every year, nominees are asked to prepare two speeches — one as a finalist and another in case they win. I never wrote the second one, including this year,” Rudenko said during the ceremony.

“I remember when the Georgiy Gongadze Prize was first established and thinking it was strange that Ukraine had not had such an award earlier. It immediately became clear that this would be the country’s leading journalism prize, but I never imagined I could one day receive it. This is both encouragement for me and recognition for our entire team. We managed to build something inspiring and extraordinary.”

Rudenko was previously shortlisted for the award in both 2024 and 2025. She has contributed to numerous international publications and completed studies through the Chicago Booth School of Business scholarship program.

In 2022, Rudenko appeared on the cover of Time magazine as part of its “Next Generation Leaders” project. Later that year, she received the Women of Europe Award in the “Woman in Action” category. In October 2025, the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington honored her with the Freedom Fighter Award for her commitment to independent journalism during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The second laureate, investigative journalist Mykhailo Tkach, currently heads the investigations department at Ukrainska Pravda. Before joining the outlet, he worked on the investigative program Skhemy, a joint project of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and UA:PBC.

Tkach is widely known for exposing corruption schemes, illicit enrichment among officials, and abuses within state institutions.

Accepting the award, Tkach delivered a defiant message about the role of investigative journalism in exposing hidden political dealings.

“To those who do not want us to tell society about backroom agreements and secret meetings where state matters are often decided in favor of private interests, I want to respond by paraphrasing Winston Churchill,” Tkach said.

“We will film them on the beaches. We will film them on the shores. We will film them in the streets. We will film them in the hills. We will continue filming, and we will never surrender.”

Tkach was awarded the Order of Merit, Third Class, for his contribution to journalism and wartime reporting during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In 2025, he was also shortlisted for the Georgiy Gongadze Prize and has topped the Institute of Mass Information’s “Journalists of the Year” ranking for three consecutive years.

This year’s finalists also included Ukrainian war correspondent Marian Kushnir of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

The Georgiy Gongadze Prize honors journalists who demonstrate commitment to the principles of independent journalism, introduce innovative approaches to the profession, and contribute significantly to the development of Ukraine’s media environment.

Only Ukrainian journalists who have remained active in the profession for at least the past five years are eligible for the award. Candidates can be nominated exclusively by members of the prize’s governing board, known as the Capitula.

The Capitula traditionally includes representatives of the Gongadze family, PEN Ukraine, Ukrainska Pravda, alumni of the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School Association, and the previous year’s laureate. Additional members are selected from among respected Ukrainian media experts, intellectuals, and public figures.

Among the 2026 Capitula members were journalist and democracy expert Myroslava Gongadze; PEN Ukraine President Volodymyr Yermolenko; philanthropist and Aurora retail chain co-founder Lev Zhydenko; journalist and military serviceman Pavlo Kazarin; Kyiv-Mohyla Academy President Serhiy Kvit; Armed Forces communications officer and journalist Dmytro Lykhoviy; Reuters cameraman Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey; Ukrainska Pravda editor-in-chief Sevgil Musaieva; and Institute of Mass Information Director Oksana Romaniuk.

Previous recipients of the Georgiy Gongadze Prize include Vakhtang Kipiani (2019), Pavlo Kazarin (2020), Myroslava Barchuk (2021), Mstyslav Chernov and Yevhen Maloletka (2022), Bohdan Lohvynenko (2023), Tetiana Troshchynska (2024), and Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey (2025).

In 2022, photojournalist Maks Levin also received a special posthumous award.

EMPR