Brent Renaud, an American video journalist covering the Ukraine war, has been confirmed dead by the head of Kyiv police department. As per the police, Russian troops opened fire on a car with foreign journalists inside, and shot dead 51 yrs old Renaud in Irpin, around 40 KMs North-West of capital Kyiv.
Head of Kyiv Police department, Andriy Nebytov said ,”A 51-year-old world-renowned media correspondent was shot in Irpen today,”
“Another journalist is injured. Now they are trying to remove the victim from the war zone. 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”, he added.
In the immediate aftermath of his death, there were reports that he was covering the war for New York Times. However, they have issued a statement denying it. Even though he had previously contributed to The New York Times, he was not covering Ukraine war for them. The confusion occurred because he was carrying his old New York Times card.
.@nytimes is deeply saddened to learn of the death of an American journalist in Ukraine, Brent Renaud.
— Cliff Levy (@cliffordlevy) March 13, 2022
Brent was a talented photographer and filmmaker, but he was not on assignment for @nytimes in Ukraine.
Full statement is here. pic.twitter.com/bRcrnNDacQ
Brent Renaud was a Peabody and DuPont Award winning filmmaker, and used to produce films and television programs with his brother Craig Renaud from various regions around the world. He had reported from various conflict regions, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Mexico and Egypt.
Reporting from conflict zones has always been a risky assignment for the journalists. Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who was working for Reuters at the time, was shot dead by Taliban last year while reporting on the conflict in Afghanistan.
