Dmitry Beliakov is a Russian

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

, born in 1970, in the

Vologda region Vologda (, ) is a city and the administrative center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the river Vologda within the watershed of the Northern Dvina. Population: The city serves as a major transport hub of the Northwest of Russia. The Min ...

, in Northwestern Russia.

Career

From 1999 to 2007, he documented the

Chechen War Chechen War may refer to: * Chechen–Russian conflict, 1785–2017 * Caucasian War, 1817–1864 * Murid War, 1829–1859, a.k.a. Russian Conquest of Chechnya and Dagestan * 1940–44 insurgency in Chechnya * First Chechen War, December 1994–Aug ...

. Throughout this period, he tried to remain neutral through his images, neither favouring the Russian government nor the Chechen rebels. As a war photojournalist he faced ample danger with land mines and mortar fire. He was also confronted by censors and restrictions during his coverage of the conflict. Beliakov has received many respected awards in photojournalism. His work has been published in many notable newspapers and magazines, including ''

The Sunday Times Magazine ''The Sunday Times Magazine'' is a magazine included with ''The Sunday Times''. In 1962 it became the first colour supplement to be published as a supplement to a UK newspaper, and its arrival "broke the mould of weekend newspaper publishing". ...

'', ''

Paris Match ''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly gossip magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. ''Paris Match'' has been considered "one of the world's best outlets for photojournalism". ...

'', ''

GEO Geo- is a prefix derived from the Greek word ''γη'' or ''γαια'', meaning "earth", usually in the sense of "ground or land”. GEO or Geo may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''GEO'' (magazine), a popular scientific magazi ...

'' magazine, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'' and the British '' Telegraph Magazine''. He was profiled in a

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

and Showtime Independent Films

documentary drama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typi ...

called Three Days in September in 2006. Beliakov's work has been exhibited in Italy and Russia. In 2011 his document of portraits of

Russian Special Forces SpetsnazThe term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or () are special forces in many post-Soviet states. Historically, this term referred to the Soviet Union's Spet ...

was exhibited at the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia. In August 2014, while covering the

War in Donbass The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war began in April 2014, when Russian paramilitaries seized several towns. Ukraine's military launched an operation ...

in eastern Ukraine, Dmitry Beliakov and his colleague

Mark Franchetti Mark Franchetti is a journalist and documentary filmmaker. He worked for 23 years as a correspondent for the Sunday Times of London, much of it as the paper's Moscow correspondent. Fluent in five languages, Franchetti was awarded the British Press ...

, a reporter for the British newspaper

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

, pleaded with the pro-Russian rebel leader

Alexander Khodakovsky Alexander Sergeevich Khodakovsky ( rus, Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Ходако́вский, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ xədɐˈkofskʲɪj) is a Russian separatist paramilitary commander who is the commander of t ...

to release Iryna Dovhan, a local resident who had been abducted by the insurgent group Vostok Battalion and subjected to imprisonment, torture and humiliation, for being accused of being a spy for the Ukrainian forces. This plead came after a photograph of her mistreatment taken by another photojournalist,

Maurício Lima Maurício Camargo Lima (born 27 January 1968), known as Maurício Lima or simply Maurício, is a Brazilian former volleyball player and five-time Olympian. He won two Olympic gold medals with the Brazilian national volleyball team: the first a ...

, stirred widespread outrage in Ukraine, prompted a social media effort to identify her and drew the attention of

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

human rights monitors. The plead was attended and she was released.

References

Russian photojournalists People of the Chechen wars Pro-Russian people of the war in Donbas People from Vologda Oblast Living people 1970 births {{Russia-journalist-stub