Yousur Al-Hlou is a visual journalist who most recently worked for The New York Times, reporting on international breaking news and investigations. She uses field reporting, visual evidence gathering, and original cinematography to investigate crimes in conflict zones and has documented human rights abuses and their impact on civilians in Syria, Gaza, and Ukraine. Her work with colleagues covering Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine received a 2022 George Polk Award, the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, and a 2024 DuPont-Columbia Award.
Previously, she was a global fellow for The Associated Press in Jerusalem, an associate producer at the UC Berkeley Investigative Reporting Program, and an associate producer for Al Jazeera's documentary series Fault Lines. Most recently, she was a fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Along with her co-writer, Masha Froliak, Yousur is writing a narrative nonfiction book that will take readers into the month-long Russian military occupation of Bucha through intimate interviews and forensic analysis of exclusive audiovisual evidence. The book aims to be the definitive account of the potential war crimes committed against the town's residents.
Fellowship Project: As a Carr-Ryan Center Fellow, Al-Hlou will report and write the definitive account of the atrocities committed by Russian soldiers against the residents of Bucha, a town on the outskirts of Kyiv. The narrative nonfiction book, co-written with Masha Froliak, will be based on their Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting for The New York Times, which exposed how Russian soldiers barreling toward the capital killed dozens of victims in their wake. The book will take readers intimately into the homes and hearts of survivors who endured a tragic 30-day occupation, highlighting stories of sacrifice, resilience, and a defiant spirit. It will uncover unparalleled troves of digital breadcrumbs left by Russian soldiers that lay bare the striking human cost of President Vladimir Putin's war. Although the Russian military has attempted to erase traces of its crimes, the book will reveal why Russia's war in Ukraine is more than a fight for power — it is an existential battle over truth and justice.