Leica has removed one of the 12 shortlisted finalists for the 2026 Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA), one of the most prestigious photography prizes in the world, PetaPixel can exclusively reveal. Russian photographer Valery Melnikov was shortlisted for the 46th LOBA for his work titled Mariupol: Open Wounds, which focuses on how Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine devastated the city of Mariupol and its people. Ukrainian photographer Serhii Korovainyi, who covers the war, condemned LOBA’s decision to include Melnikov on its shortlist. The Kyiv Independent called Melnikov a “Kremlin media-linked photographer” in an article posted on July 11. The Russian photographer says that he was contacted by Leica, which objected to his links to RIA Novosti, a news agency operated by Rossiya Segodnya.