Ukrainian photojournalist Heorhiy Ivanchenko, who lost a leg in a Russian FPV drone strike in 2025, is still in recovery and has taken up photography again. A year after the attack, he is documenting the impact of the war and the lives of people who, like him, are undergoing lengthy rehabilitation.
The international organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) spent a day with the journalist in Lviv and released a video interview with him.
A Russian FPV drone deliberately targeted Heorhiy Ivanchenko and French photojournalist Antoni Lallican near Druzhkivka in Donetsk oblast on 3 October 2025. Lallican was killed in the strike; Ivanchenko was severely wounded and lost a leg.
After surgery, the journalist spent about nine months in recovery. He now lives in Lviv and continues his rehabilitation at the Superhumans Centre, which specialises in helping people with severe injuries, where he also received a prosthetic leg.
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Ivanchenko said that picking up a camera again seemed impossible at first after the injury. However, while in hospital he started taking pictures of himself, his friends, and other patients recovering from wounds.
This gradually developed into a standalone documentary project about “what we usually don’t see.”
“While I previously worked mainly in combat zones, now I am here documenting its aftermath,” Ivanchenko said.
The journalist wants to show the lengthy process of rehabilitation and adaptation that people go through after being wounded, which, he says, can take years.
“We see war, and this is its aftermath. Thousands of people suffer severe injuries,” Ivanchenko said.
The attack profoundly changed his perspective on his profession. “Frontline journalism has become incredibly difficult and dangerous. A blue vest doesn’t save you,” Ivanchenko said.
However, he does not rule out returning to war reporting, albeit “in a slightly different capacity,” once he has fully adapted to his new prosthesis and his new body.
RSF stressed that Ivanchenko’s story showcased the long-term impact of the war for media workers who get wounded while carrying out their professional duties.
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“One year after this attack, Georgiy Ivanchenko continues to pay, with his own body, the price of his work to keep the public informed. His experience shows what war leaves behind: injured media professionals who must learn to live differently over the long term while continuing to document events. Attacks on journalists, such as the one that wounded Georgiy Ivanchenko and killed Antoni Lallican, constitute war crimes. Those responsible must be identified and held accountable for their crimes before a court of law,” said RSF’s Ukraine Officer Pauline Maufrais.
IMI recorded a spike in targeted drone attacks on journalists in 2025: three journalists were killed while reporting in October, and two more were injured.