The Story Behind a Defining War Photo

This episode details graphic scenes and contains strong language.

The image shows four people lying on the ground — a woman, a man and two children who had been fleeing from a suburb of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. The woman and her children had been killed by a mortar moments earlier. Around them are Ukrainian soldiers attempting to revive the man.

The picture was taken by the photojournalist Lynsey Addario, alongside Andriy Dubchak, a Ukrainian videographer. When it was published by The Times, the image became a watershed, offering irrefutable evidence that Russia’s tactics in the war were killing civilians.

Guest: Lynsey Addario, a photojournalist currently working in Ukraine.

Background reading: 

• President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has repeatedly denied that his forces are targeting civilians. But only a handful of Ukrainian troops were near the bridge when mortar shells began raining down, and they were helping refugees escape Kyiv.

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