MILESTONES OF A LIFETIME
THE MOST TITLED PHOTOGRAPHER OF OUR TIME
HONORING EXCELLENCE
A HALF-CENTURY IN THE ARTS
THE ARTWORK OF SERGEY MELNIKOFF, A.K.A. MFF, IS BEING PROMOTED BY THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE, HIS HOLINESS THE 14TH DALAI LAMA
The Dalai Lama displays Sergey Melnikoff’s artwork “Mount Ama Dablam,” which he received as a gift from representatives of the European Union in 2007. Standing to the left is Junsei Terasawa, a Japanese Buddhist monk and the leader of the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Order in Ukraine and Central Asia.
"At this time, the country's authorities proved to be incompetent in determining where and how he crossed the USSR state border with his wife and one-year-old daughter..."
Qoman Turpal
HERO OF THE NATION OF THE CHECHEN REPUBLIC OF ICHKERIA
2012
In Copenhagen on March 7, 2012, Sergey Melnikoff, a.k.a. MFF, an American descendant of an ancient Cossack lineage, was officially awarded the highest order of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, the “Qoman Turpal” — Hero of the Nation.
The award ceremony was attended by: from the United Kingdom — member of the House of Lords, Lord Frank Ashcroft Judd; from the European Union — member of the European Parliament and Chairman of the Supreme Council of Lithuania, Vytautas Landsbergis; from Poland — member of the Polish Parliament, Senator Zbigniew Romaszewski; from the Baltic countries — member of the Lithuanian Parliament, Senator Rytas Kupcinskas.
Sergey Melnikoff was presented with the highest award of Ichkeria by Akhmed Zakayev, Chairman of the Government of the Republic of Ichkeria.
From the interview: “We are not just dealing with political opportunists. We are dealing with a criminal state. A state that has been criminal throughout modern history!.. The Russian-speaking population has been reduced to a subhuman condition. I think that moral degenerates in Russia make up at least 60-70 percent. If a farmer’s livestock consisted of half rabid animals, what would he do with such a herd? Russia needs to be divided into many small states, and most of them should be placed under external administration.”
2023
The Order of Saint Archangel Michael was awarded to Sergey Melnikoff by His Holiness Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for creating a sculpture of the Great Coat of Arms of Ukraine from the remnants of mines and artillery shells, symbolizing the unparalleled resilience of Ukrainians against the Russian military invasion.
The sculpture of the Great Coat of Arms of Ukraine, created by the artist, was consecrated at a special ceremony in St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral in Kyiv.
Sergey Melnikoff achieved the impossible—at his suggestion, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon renamed the second highest peak in the Pamir Mountains. In 2020, the mountain known as "Korzhenevskaya Peak" (7105 m) was renamed "Ozodi Peak"—Freedom!
Sergey Melnikoff welcomes guests of honor to his personal exhibition, “Tajikistan – The Land of Mountain Peaks!” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan dedicated this exhibition to the 25th anniversary of the country’s Constitution. Kyiv, Equides Club, 2019
"There are whole countries in the world that would gladly not allow him onto their territory if they weren't afraid of media backlash and desperately in need of the arrival of international PR specialists of his caliber. But the main label attached to this remarkable individual outweighs all the above with dreadful conciseness — 'Enemy of Russia.' This is how the media of the neighboring state officially refers to Sergey Melnikoff, automatically categorizing him among the strong of this world."
FULL CHEVALIER OF THE ORDER OF THE HOLY EQUAL-TO-THE-APOSTLES PRINCE VOLODYMYR THE GREAT
I CLASS 2022
II CLASS 2019
III CLASS 2014
From personal correspondence: “Never bend under circumstances! Never betray the childhood dream! Never cast pearls before swine! Call the Russian world as it has always been, is, and will be — bloody, stinky, wooden latrine. A world of moral degenerates. A planet of marbles.”
CHEVALIER OF THE ORDER OF SAINT GEORGE THE VICTORIOUS
2022
“Throughout history, every empire has had its fools, but for fools to establish their own empire is unprecedented in human history.”
“Russians are universally likened to pigs not because their country, homes, yards, and apartments resemble latrines. It’s their impossibly dirty souls.”
Sergey Melnikoff about the population of Russia.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk presents Sergey Melnikoff’s artwork to Pope Francis I on behalf of the Ukrainian people. Vatican, 2014
Photographic artworks by Sergey Melnikoff have been presented to notable figures such as Queen Elizabeth II, Pope Benedict XVI, Patriarch Filaret, Elton John, President George W. Bush, Sultan Bolkiah of Brunei, King Birendra of Nepal, the Dalai Lama XIV, Academician Borys Paton, and other prominent historical figures.
"According to the official opinion of the FSB, the mastermind behind the attempted uprising in Moscow in 2010 is the Caucasus Emirate and the ideologue of the military coup, the 'absolute enemy of Russia,' American Sergei Melnikoff, who was utilized by Americans on the side of Afghan mujahideen fighting against Soviet forces. In Afghanistan, he directed the mujahideen to Soviet Army arsenals and smuggled explosives into international contingent barracks, sending 'compatriots' to Allah as guests."
CHEVALIER OF THE ORDER “UNITY AND WILL TO VICTORY”
2023
The Order of People’s Honor “Unity and Will to Victory” is a nationwide award with a special status established to promote the development of a European-oriented civil society in Ukraine. Recipients of the “Unity and Will to Victory” order are honored for their courage, patriotism, social activism, and high professionalism for the benefit of Ukraine.
In the photo: Sergey Melnikoff with Pope Benedict XVI and U.S. Senator John McCain.
President of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Soul of Ukraine, an International Charitable Foundation, Academician Borys Paton, and the founder of this foundation, Sergey Melnikoff, a.k.a. MFF, during a meeting at the E. Paton Institute in Kyiv on July 1, 2014
From personal correspondence: “Once the war in Ukraine concludes, the mere mention of ‘Russian’ will carry the weight of a curse. There will be no greater insult than to label someone as ‘ Russian.’ Neither Judas nor Herod, nothing since biblical times, can compare in terms of wickedness, worthlessness, vulgarity, and repulsive abomination to those branded with this epithet – ‘ Russian’.”
CHEVALIER OF THE SILVER JUBILEE MEDAL OF HIS MAJESTY KING BIRENDRA BIR BIKRAM SHAH DEV OF NEPAL
1997
In the photo: Installation of a giant billboard for Sergey Melnikoff’s solo exhibition “Earth, the Moonlit Beauty” on the building of the Gapar Aitiev National Art Museum in the capital of Kyrgyzstan. The cost of producing such a large billboard, including installation, exceeded $5,000, but this did not deter advertisers, and the main exhibition billboard, displayed opposite the Hyatt Regency hotel in the city center, changed weekly. Bishkek, 2008
Sergey Melnikoff with his famous camera at the summit of Everest, 1998
With his daughter Anastasia at the celebration of the 75th birthday of the Dalai Lama in His Holiness’s residence. Dharamsala, India, 2010
An American photographer with Cossack roots has conceived an extraordinary mission — to conduct a unique photoshoot in Ukraine titled "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," inviting the participation of 100 of the world's most famous personalities, from Madonna to Paul McCartney. The photoshoot will serve as a key component of a global charitable project benefiting Ukrainian children who have lost limbs.
Sergey Melnikoff during the filming of an underwater film about the life of the Sea of Japan. 1977
"Sergey Melnikoff is one of the most renowned photographers on the planet. According to international ratings, he is among the shortlist of super-professionals working in extreme natural conditions—mountains, underwater, jungles, and caves. He has worked in 150 countries across all continents. He is the creator and director-cinematographer of television series such as "Hour of Adventures," "Treasure Hunters," and "There is No Place in the World for Wild Animals." He was the author of the program "Space Tourist." A former board member of the Soviet Cultural Foundation. He served a lengthy imprisonment for calling for a trial of the Communist Party. He was sought by the North Korean regime for unauthorized filming inside the concentration camps of that country. In the late 1980s, he fled the USSR with his family. Granted refugee status by the UN, he was accepted by the United States under the personal verdict of President Ronald Reagan."
CHEVALIER OF THE MEDAL “FOR SACRIFICE AND LOVE FOR UKRAINE”
2021
In the photo: Sergei Melnikoff captures Ukrainian Crimea. 2013
The most expensive photoshoot in the history of photography. During the shooting of the photo panorama “Soul of Ukraine” with eight hundred costumed extras. Kyiv, 2013
Members of the Soul of Ukraine, an International Charitable Foundation, at a gala evening in honor of the 100th anniversary of Borys Paton showcasing the work of Artificial Intelligence “Genius.” Brovary, 2019
From personal correspondence: “My heart warms at the realization of how desperately the assorted scum fears my words, those who in life are only capable of stealing. In various countries, these maggots regularly ‘bury’ me, posting crude obituaries in Russian media once every five or ten years… I didn’t perish in Afghanistan when I fought alongside the mujahideen; survived in an execution prison with two death sentences; spent long years behind barbed wire in Soviet camps; outwitted the KGB in a deadly ‘poker’ game; remained unscathed while tracking down mafiosi in Asia; lived with my young children for several months among pirates on the Sulu Islands; didn’t succumb to Covid, despite 70% lung damage; took the first Russian cruise missiles missing my cottage near Kiev on the morning of February 24, 2022, as a given… In general, it’s not so easy to ferry me across the River Styx. My fate, with such reckless propositions, vehemently disagrees…”
RECIPIENT OF THE SPECIAL INSIGNIA OF THE GEORGIAN APOSTOLIC AUTOCEPHALOUS ORTHODOX CHURCH BY HIS BEATITUDE THE PATRIARCH ILIA II
2008
In the photo: Sergey Melnikoff at a reception with His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia.
✦ Honorary Citizen of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria — 2024
✦ Recognition from the Holy See with the blessing of Pope Francis I — 2014
✦ Recognitions from the 14th Dalai Lama — 2007, 2010
✦ Recognition from the Holy See with the blessing of Pope Benedict XVI — 2010
✦ Recognition from President George Bush — 2002
"Melnikoff is only American by passport. By vocation, he is a citizen of the world, who has worked extensively in exotic countries such as Nepal, India, Malaysia, Peru, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, China, Japan, Mexico, Korea, Thailand... Few in our age live such an adventurous life. The Himalayas and Tibet, the Cordilleras and the Andes, the Tien Shan and the Pamirs, the Alps and the mountains of Antarctica — there is no mountainous country on Earth where the famous photographer has not been."