US journalist killed by Russian forces while documenting fleeing refugees in Ukraine

Brent Renaud, 50, from New York, dies while ‘trying to highlight the aggressor’s ingenuity, cruelty and ruthlessness,’ according to police

A US journalist was shot dead and another wounded on Sunday in Irpin, a frontline northwest suburb of Kyiv, medics and witnesses told AFP.

Papers found on the American reporter’s body identified him as 50-year-old video documentary shooter Brent Renaud, of New York.

A New York Times identity card was among the papers found on Renaud’s body, but the US daily said he was not working for it at the time of his death.

“Brent was a talented photographer and filmmaker who had contributed to The New York Times over the years,” said a statement tweeted by the Times’ deputy managing editor, Cliff Levy.

“Though he had contributed to The Times in the past (most recently in 2015), he was not on assignment for any desk at The Times in Ukraine.”

Another American journalist who was traveling with Renaud was reportedly injured and evacuated to a nearby hospital. A third victim, a Ukrainian who had been in the same car as the Americans, was also wounded.

https://twitter.com/AlexKhrebet/status/1502988753165561857

Danylo Shapovalov, a surgeon volunteering for the Ukrainian territorial defense, said Renaud died instantly and that he had treated the other reporter.

“The car was shot at. There were two journalists and one of ours (a Ukrainian),” Shapovalov told AFP.

New York Times journalist and US citizen Brent Renaud who was shot by Russian troops in Irpin, March 13, 2022. (Screen grab/Facebook)

According to unconfirmed reports, the American correspondents were documenting fleeing Ukrainian civilians in Irpin when Russian troops opened fire at them.

Ukrainian officials were quick to blame Russian forces for the shooting, but the exact circumstances were unclear. AFP reporters heard small arms and artillery fire in the area.

“The occupants cynically kill even journalists of the international media who try to show the truth about the inaction of Russian troops in Ukraine,” Andriy Nebytov, a Kyiv police official, wrote in a Facebook post.

“Another journalist is injured. Now they are trying to remove the victim from the war zone,” he added.

“Of course, the profession of a journalist is a risk, but US citizen Brent Renaud paid his life for trying to highlight the aggressor’s ingenuity, cruelty and ruthlessness,” said Nebytov.