Newsman: An American journalist Brent Renaud was killed amid the Russian onslaught in Ukraine. The US State Department confirmed his death later on Sunday.
Earlier An adviser to Ukraine’s interior ministry, Anton Gerashchenko, says U.S. video journalist Brent Renaud has been killed in fighting in Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv. Another journalist was wounded, he says.
In a statement posted on social media, Gerashchenko says Renaud “sacrificed his life trying to show the insidiousness, cruelty and ruthlessness of the aggressor.”
The Kyiv regional police chief confirmed the news on Facebook.
“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,” Andriy Nebytov said in the post.
“We offer our sincerest condolences to his family on their loss and are offering all possible consular assistance,” the US State Department spokesperson confirmed Renaud’s death.
“Out of respect for his family’s privacy, we have no specifics to offer at this time.” spokesperson said in a statement.
The Committee to Protect Journalists quickly condemned Renaud’s killing on Sunday.
“We are shocked and saddened to learn of the death of U.S. journalist Brent Renaud in Ukraine. This kind of attack is totally unacceptable, and is a violation of international law,” Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director, said in a statement.
“Russian forces in Ukraine must stop all violence against journalists and other civilians at once, and whoever killed Renaud should be held to account,” he added.
Audrey Azoulay, the director-general of UNESCO, said journalists should never be targeted while reporting on a conflict.
“I condemn the killing of Brent Renaud,” Azoulay said in a statement. “I call on the respect of international humanitarian standards, to ensure that journalists and media workers are protected.”
Brent Renaud, a Peabody-winning filmmaker, was working in the region on a project on the global refugee crisis for TIME Studios.
Kyiv police said Renaud died after Russian forces opened fire on his car in Irpin, which is just outside the capital of Kyiv. American journalist Juan Arredondo was traveling with Renaud when both were shot, the Associated Press reported. Arredondo was wounded in the lower back.
Renaud, 51, had previously reported on the War in Iraq, meth addiction in the American South and natural disasters. His work, much of which was conducted with his brother, Craig, received widespread acclaim for its raw, honest portrayal of human suffering.
“We are devastated by the loss of Brent Renaud,” said Edward Felsenthal, the editor in chief and CEO of TIME, and Ian Orefice, its COO, in a statement. “Our hearts are with all of Brent’s loved ones. It is essential that journalists are able to safely cover this ongoing invasion and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.”
Renaud was reported to have been wearing a New York Times press badge — though the Times said on Sunday that Renaud had not worked for the publication since 2015 and was not in Ukraine on assignment for it.
In a statement released on Twitter, Cliff Levy, deputy managing editor at the Times, said: “We are deeply saddened to hear of Brent Renaud’s death. Brent was a talented photographer and filmmaker who had contributed to The New York Times over the years.”
Asked on Sunday morning about the killing, which journalist Clarissa Ward earlier reported, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he had just learned of the report and was unable to confirm at the time. He added that, if an American journalist was killed, that was “a shocking and horrifying event.”
“It is one more example of the brutality of Vladimir Putin and his forces … is they’ve targeted schools and mosques and hospitals and journalists,” he added, “and it is why we’re working so hard to impose severe consequences on him and to try to help the Ukrainians with every form of military assistance we can muster to be able to push back against the onslaught of these Russian forces.”
Renaud and his brother Craig, who is also a filmmaker, had worked on a number of documentaries together. A post on their Facebook page from March 8 indicated they were covering the conflict in Ukraine.
According to their website, the Renaud brothers have spent years “telling humanistic verite stories from the [w]orld’s hot spots,” including Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti and parts of Central America.
