The war in Ukraine has claimed the lives of two more journalists, including a Fox News cameraman and a Ukrainian journalist working with the network.
Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, was killed in an incident near Kyiv Monday when a vehicle carrying him and reporter Benjamin Hall was struck by incoming fire, according to an internal memo by Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott provided to VICE News.
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Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, a 24-year-old producer who had been working with Fox News since last month, was also killed in the attack, according to Yonat Friling, a senior field producer for Fox News. Hall was also injured in the attack and remains hospitalized, according to Scott.
Scott said in a separate note to staff, provided to VICE News, that Kuvshynova was working as a freelance consultant for the network, helping them to navigate Kyiv and connect with sources. “She was incredibly talented and spent weeks working directly with our entire team there, operating around the clock to make sure the world knew what was happening in her country,” Scott said of Kuvshynova, adding that colleagues remembered her for being passionate about music and the arts and being “hard-working, funny, kind, and brave.”
The deaths of Zakrzewski and Kuvshynova follow the death of journalist and filmmaker Brent Renaud, who was shot and killed—purportedly by Russian troops—near Kyiv Sunday. (Renaud was making a documentary for Time. He had previously worked with VICE Media Group, winning a Peabody award for “Last Chance High.”)
It’s believed that Renaud and Zakrzewski are the first foreign journalists to die during the war, which began last month and has already claimed the lives of hundreds of Ukrainian civilians and caused millions of refugees to flee the country.
Zakrzewski, who’d covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq among other previous conflicts, was based in London and had been stationed in Ukraine since last month, Scott said.
Zakrzewski’s colleagues expressed their condolences on Twitter.
“[Zakrzewski]’s passion and talent as a journalist were unmatched,” Scott said. “He was profoundly committed to telling the story, and his bravery, professionalism, and work ethic were renowned among journalists at every media outlet.”
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