European Pressphoto Agency (EPA) photographer Sergey Kozlov's photo titled "Ukraine-Russia War" has won the Photo of the Year award at the Istanbul Photo Awards 2023, the ninth edition of the annual international photography contest held by Anadolu Agency to support photojournalists.

The contest is now a global platform with more than 16,000 photographers submiting their best work.

The best photographers were selected by an online jury.

The winning photos showed to the world key events as they transpired last year from the Ukraine-Russia conflict to the incidents in Palestine, from the lives of women under the Taliban rule to child trafficking in Nigeria, from Lithium-induced environmental damage to wildlife studies in Thailand, and from the World Cup in Qatar to Portuguese bullfights.

The international jury stated that the quality of the photos sent was very high and they struggled to decide which photos to leave out.

In the Story News category, Associated Press (AP) photographer Evgeniy Maloletka won first place with his series about the siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

Getty Images Photojournalist David Ramos took first place in the Single Sports category with his work capturing the celeberations of Lionel Messi after the World Cup final.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Jeff Pachoud took first place in the Story Sports category with his photos covering The Tour de France Femmes.

Brais Lorenzo won the first prize in the category of Single Nature and Environment by capturing people watching the fires in Spain with concern.

The jury awarded Jonas Kako's work, which shows the undeniable effects of drought, as the winner of the Story Nature and Environment.

The winner of the Single Portrait is Elham Abbasloo, who captured the people-led protests in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini.

AP photographer Ebrahim Noroozi won the first prize in the Story Portrait category for his photographs of female athletes in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.

In the Single Daily Life category, Gazeta Wyborcza photographer Jakub Porzycki won the first prize with his photo of Wanda, who was celebrating her 111th birthday.

Politiken / Panos Pictures photographer Mads Nissen, who documented life in drug prisons in Afghanistan, won the first prize in the Story Daily Life category.

This year, 29 photographers received awards in 10 categories in the contest supported by Nikon, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and Turkish Airlines (THY), the nation's flag carrier.

Information related to the jury and award-winning photographs can be accessed via the website.