The National Investigative Journalism Contest was established in 2014 by the YanukovychLeaks initiative and the Media Development Foundation. It emerged following the escape of former President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. At that time, a group of investigative journalists from various media outlets, united under the YanukovychLeaks project, obtained more than 24,000 pages of documents. The need to present this information to the public led to the launch of MezhyhiryaFest, a conference for investigative journalists, along with an awards ceremony recognizing the best investigative works.
Contest Winners
- 2024 – “We FOUND Them! The Security Service’s Crackdown on Journalists: Faces, Names, Consequences” (Bihus.Info).
- Special Award: “Martial law dad”. Author: Natalia Onysko, co-author: Nazar Tuzyak (NGL.media).
- 2023 – Olesia Bida from The Kyiv Independent’s War Investigations Unit for the documentary “Children for Putin: How Russia Kidnapped Children from Mariupol” (Director: Vitalii Havura, Researcher: Kostiantyn Nechyporenko).
- Special Award: Natalia Onyshko and Kateryna Rodak (NGL.media) for “Blind Trust: Dirty Hands, Fake Drugs, and Money—How 22 Ukrainians Lost Their Sight Due to Doctors.”
- 2022 – The investigative documentary “Bucha 22” by Suspilne, which uncovered the actions of Russian soldiers who executed a family in Bucha (Author: Inna Biletska, Co-authors: Alla Sadovnyk, Oleksandr Stratonov, Vladyslav Vasylchenko, Svitlana Koval).
- Special Award: The Reporters’ feature “Pasha and Grandpa: The Story of a Rescue Operation” (Author: Olha Omelianchuk).
- 2021 – “Viktor Medvedchuk’s ‘American Dream’: How a Pro-Russian Politician Under Sanctions Entered the U.S. Oil Market”, by “Schemes: Corruption in Detail”, Radio Svoboda. (Authors: Maksym Savchuk, Liubomyra Remazheska, Oleksandr Chornovalov).
- Special Award: Suspilne for the documentary “A Hundred Years of Isolation: What Ukrainian Psychiatry Hides.”
- 2020 – “I Am a Bot”, an investigation by Yevheniia Motorevska and Dmytro Replianchuk (Slidstvo.Info).
- Special Award: Kateryna Lykhogliad (Slidstvo.Info) for “The Prison of Opportunities.”
- 2019 – “The President’s Friends Steal from the Defense Sector”, an investigation by Lesia Ivanova (“Nashi Hroshi with Denys Bihus”, Bihus.Info).
- Special Award: Anastasiia Stanko (Hromadske) for “The Secret Detention Center of Security Service of Ukraine.”
- 2018 – “Beyond Their Means: The Luxury Car Fleet of the Security Service’s Economic Protection Unit”, an investigation by Valeria Yehoshyna (Schemes: Corruption in Detail, Radio Svoboda).
- 2017 – “The Daughter of the State Special Communications Service Refuses to Examine the Certificate Containing Riaboshapka’s Name and a Fake Taxpayer Number.” (Author: Alisa Yurchenko, Bihus.Info).
- 2016 – The documentary “Breach”, part of the “Traces of the Revolution” investigative series. (Authors: Angelina Kariakina and Anastasiia Stanko, Hromadske TV).
- 2015 – “Not a Combatant”, an investigation by Dmytro Hnap (Slidstvo.Info).
- 2014 – “How Nyhoian, Zhiznievskyi, and Senyk Were Killed”, an investigation by Liubomyr Ferens (Slidstvo.Info).
