Ukraine

A US Reporter Was Shot Dead While Covering The War In Ukraine

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Brent Renaud's death was "shocking and horrifying" and pledged that the US would investigate and respond appropriately.

by David Mack

BuzzFeed News Reporter

Updated on March 14, 2022, 7:21 pmPosted on March 13, 2022, 4:49 pm

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{ "id": 128914848 } Aris Messinis / AFP via Getty Images

Members of the Ukrainian armed forces stand on a bridge in Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, on Sunday.

{ "id": 128914830 }

Brent Renaud, an award-winning American video journalist who had been covering Russia's war against Ukraine, was shot dead Sunday near Kyiv, according to local police and witnesses.

Renaud, 50, and another reporter came under gunfire in Irpin, a suburb north of the capital, according to Kyiv Regional Police Chief Andriy Nebytov. The police chief shared photos on Facebook of Renaud's passport and a New York Times press badge with his photo, as well as a cropped image purportedly of his bloodied corpse.

"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," Nebytov wrote.

Renaud had been in Ukraine working with Time Studios on a project about the global refugee crisis, Time Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal and Time President Ian Orefice said in a joint statement.

"Our hearts are with all of Brent’s loved ones," they said. "It is essential that journalists are able to safely cover this ongoing invasion and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine."

Renaud had previously been a contributor to the New York Times, and a spokesperson said he had been wearing a badge from the newspaper that had been issued for an assignment several years ago.

"Brent's death is a terrible loss," Times Deputy Managing Editor Cliff Levy wrote on Twitter. "Brave journalists like Brent take tremendous risks to bear witness and to tell the world about the devastation and suffering caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine."

{ "id": 128915328 } Daniel Zuchnik / WireImage

Brent Renaud (right) with his brother, Craig, at the 74th Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony in New York City in 2015

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Juan Arredondo, the other American photojournalist injured in the attack, said in a video interview from his hospital bed with Italian reporter Annalisa Camilli that they had been filming refugees when the car they were traveling in was shot at while crossing a checkpoint.

"My friend is Brent Renaud, and he's been shot and left behind," Arredondo said. "I saw he's been shot in the neck."

{ "id": "1502978846500573185", "params": { "conversation": "none" } } annalisa camilli @annalisacamilli