The Christopher Moore Foundation has announced the winner of the ninth annual Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing 2025, which recognises non-fiction focused on human rights. The award went to Looking at Women Looking at War: A War and Justice Diary by Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina (William Collins / St. Martin’s Press).
This is the first time in the history of the prize that it has been awarded to a book by a Ukrainian author, Chytomo reports.
The jury described Amelina’s work as an “uncompromising testimony to war crimes and the destruction that the war has brought to every individual and every family in Ukraine”, stressing its particular importance in the context of propaganda and disinformation. Christopher G. Moore, founder of the foundation, said the book succeeds in drawing global attention to the real consequences of Russia’s invasion for ordinary Ukrainians.
Members of the jury — journalist Clare Hammond, Human Rights Watch Asia director Elaine Pearson, and Professor Dainius Pūras — highlighted the strength and courage of the text, which portrays the war from within and foregrounds the role of women in it. The book carries additional weight given that Victoria Amelina was killed while working on it.
The writer was killed on 1 July 2023 in Donetsk Region as a result of a Russian missile strike. After her death, friends and colleagues prepared the materials she had collected for publication. According to the jury, Looking at Women Looking at War is a crucial document for future justice efforts and for the memory of generations to come.