US journalist killed in attack near Kyiv
13 March 2022, 15:34
Russian troops opened fire on the car of Brent Renaud and another journalist in Irpin near the capital, police said.
A US video journalist has died and another journalist was injured when they were attacked by Russian forces in Ukraine, police in Kyiv region have said.
Russian troops opened fire on the car of Brent Renaud and another journalist in Irpin near the capital, the police force said on its official website on Sunday.
It said the injured journalist was being taken to a hospital in Kyiv.
A New York Times spokesperson said Mr Renaud, 50, was a “talented filmmaker who had contributed to The New York Times over the years”.
It said he was not working for the publication at the time of his death.
The police force said: “Of course, the profession of journalism carries risks. Nonetheless, US citizen Brent Renaud paid with his life trying to highlight the deceit, cruelty and ruthlessness of the aggressor.”
Asked about the reports, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS News that the US government would be consulting with the Ukrainians to determine how this had happened and would then “execute appropriate consequences”.
“This is part and parcel of what has been a brazen aggression on the part of the Russians, where they have targeted civilians, they have targeted hospitals, they have targeted places of worship, and they have targeted journalists,” Mr Sullivan said.
The US journalist being treated at a hospital in Kyiv said that he and a US colleague were shot after they were stopped at a checkpoint just after a bridge in Irpin.
Juan Arredondo told Italian journalist Annalisa Camilli, in an interview from the hospital before being taken for surgery, that the colleague who was with him had been hit in the neck and remained on the ground earlier on Sunday.
Ms Camilli said she was at the hospital when Mr Arredondo arrived and that Mr Arredondo himself had been wounded, hit in the lower back when stopped at a Russian checkpoint.
Mr Arredondo told Ms Camilli that he did not have further information about the fellow US journalist, who he identified as Mr Renaud, a friend.
He told Ms Camilli they were filming refugees fleeing the area when they were shot at while in a car approaching a checkpoint. The driver turned around but the firing continued, Mr Arredondo added.
Mr Arredondo said that an ambulance had brought him to the hospital and that Mr Renaud had been “left behind”.
