Belarussian writer wins Nobel prize, denounces Russia over Ukraine

Belarussian writer Svetlana Alexievich is seen during a book fair in Minsk, Belarus, in this February 8, 2014 file photo. Alexievich won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Literature, the award-giving body announced on October 8, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer/Files

STOCKHOLM/MINSK (Reuters) - Belarussian author Svetlana Alexievich won the Nobel Prize for Literature on Thursday for her portrayal of the harshness of life in the Soviet Union and in her first public response denounced Russia's intervention in Ukraine as an "invasion".

The Swedish Academy said Alexievich's work, which chronicles the lives of Soviet women during World War Two as well as the consequences of the 1986 nuclear disaster in Chernobyl and the Soviet military adventure in Afghanistan, was "a monument to suffering and courage in our time".