b. c. 1995
Dmytro Kozatskyi
Azov photographer and press officer
The world saw the defence of Azovstal through his eyes. Dmytro “Orest” Kozatskyi, Azov's press officer from Malyn, photographed the defenders in the plant's tunnels and posted the pictures just before going into captivity. While he was a prisoner, his series “The Light Will Win” won awards.
Key accomplishments
- Head of the Azov regiment's press service during the defence of Mariupol (2022)
- The Azovstal photo series “The Light Will Win”, exhibited in Ukraine and abroad
- A photo from Azovstal among The Guardian's best photographs of 2022
- Won a photography contest in Paris (September 2022) while still a prisoner of war
- Medal for Military Service to Ukraine (Decree No. 256/2022)
The eyes of Azovstal
How did the world find out what was happening underneath a besieged steel plant? Largely thanks to Dmytro Kozatskyi. He comes from Malyn in the Zhytomyr region, studied at the Ostroh Academy and served in Azov under the call sign “Orest”. During the 2022 defence of Mariupol he ran the regiment’s press service and photographed his comrades, mostly at Azovstal and in its tunnels.
Photos before captivity
On 20 May 2022, as the garrison was leaving the plant for captivity on orders from command, Orest posted his photos online and said goodbye. Soon people around the world were asking for permission to show them at exhibitions about Russia’s war against Ukraine. The best known shows a beam of light falling through a shattered ceiling into the darkness of a shelter. The series was called “The Light Will Win”.
Awards waiting for their author
While Dmytro was a prisoner in Russia, his photos lived a life of their own. In summer 2022 they went on show in Zhytomyr, and in September the series won a photography contest in Paris. Back in April, during the defence, he had been awarded the Medal for Military Service to Ukraine.
On 21 September 2022 Orest was freed in a large exchange that brought 215 Ukrainians home, among them the Azov commanders Denys Prokopenko and Sviatoslav Palamar. At the end of the year The Guardian included his Azovstal photo among the best photographs of 2022.
Why it matters
Because of Kozatskyi’s photos, the defence of Azovstal has faces: not numbers in a report, but real people, wounded and alive, in light and in darkness. His pictures still tell the world about Mariupol.
