Fox News video journalist who repeatedly covered conflict killed in Ukraine
Three journalists, including a filmmaker, a producer and a Fox News cameraperson, were killed covering the Russian invasion in Ukraine this week.
A veteran video journalist for Fox News, Pierre Zakrzewski and freelance journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova, were killed outside Kyiv after their vehicle was struck by incoming fire on Monday, the network has announced.
Zakrzewski, who was an Irish citizen, had covered conflict in many regions from Iraq and Afghanistan to Syria. “Pierre was a war zone photographer who covered nearly every international story for Fox News from Iraq to Afghanistan to Syria during his long tenure with us,” Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott said in a memo.
“His talents were vast and there wasn’t a role that he didn’t jump in to help with in the field — from photographer to engineer to editor to producer — and he did it all under immense pressure with tremendous skill,” Scott said in a memo to staff, remembering Zakrzewski’s unmatched talent and passion. He was 55 years old.
Kuvshynova, 24, was helping Fox News crews “navigate Kyiv and the surrounding area while gathering information and speaking to sources,” Scott said.
Two days ago, American freelance journalist and filmmaker, Brent Renaud, 50, was shot dead in the town of Irpin, outside Kyiv. He was working in the region for Time and was wounded by Russian forces while filming refugees, Ukrainian police said.
“This kind of attack is totally unacceptable and is a violation of international law,” Carlos Martínez de la Serna, program director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement. “Russian forces in Ukraine must stop all violence against journalists and other civilians at once.”
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged Russian and Ukrainian forces to ensure that journalists can cover the ongoing war safely, and those responsible for journalists’ deaths must be held accountable. “Reporting on this war is a vital public service, and it has already claimed the lives of at least two other journalists in just a few weeks. Ukrainian and Russian authorities must do their utmost to ensure safety of all journalists, and to thoroughly investigate attacks on the press” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York.
At least 35 journalists have been injured while covering Ukraine conflict, according to Liudmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian parliament’s human rights commissioner.
Trey Yingst, another Fox News foreign correspondent who is reporting from Ukraine, posted a photograph with Zakrzewski.
