Photographer behind iconic 1968 invasion photo dies at 90

Czech photographer Václav Toužimský, best known for his powerful photo of a Soviet tank smashing through an arcade in Liberec during the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, has died at the age of 90.

Toužimský was working in a photo lab on the main square in Liberec when he captured the moment that would become one of the defining visuals of the Warsaw Pact invasion.

Toužimský got into trouble with the communist authorities over the photos he took in August 1968 and during demonstrations the following year.

In 2018, Toužimský received the Liberec Region Governor’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in Photography. Four years later, he was awarded the Medal of the City of Liberec.