An American journalist was shot dead while covering the Ukraine-Russia conflict, according to the head of the Kiev regional police.
“A 51-year-old world-renowned news correspondent was shot dead today in Irpen,” police chief Andriy Nebytov wrote. Facebook, referring to a city west of Kiev that was badly affected by the war. “Another journalist is injured. Now they are trying to remove the victim from the war zone.”
The social media post identified the journalist as award-winning documentary filmmaker Brent Renaud. The post shared images of Renaud’s passport and a press pass for The New York Times.
The New York Times Deputy Editor tweeted sunday that Renaud was off duty for the newspaper while he was in Ukraine.
The Times “is deeply saddened to learn of the death of an American journalist in Ukraine, Brent Renaud,” said Cliff Levy. “Brent was a talented photographer and filmmaker, but he wasn’t on a mission during @NYTimes in Ukraine.”
“He was wearing a Times press badge that had been issued for an assignment many years ago,” a Times statement said.
“Of course, being a journalist is a risk, but American citizen Brent Renaud paid his life for trying to bring to light the ingenuity, cruelty and ruthlessness of the attacker,” Nebytov said.
“Irpen and its surrounding villages are experiencing an absolute humanitarian disaster. Russian soldiers have occupied Vorzel, Hostomel, Zabucha and Mylhailivka-Rubezhivka and will not let residents leave their homes,” the town’s former mayor said. noted, according to a group of Ukrainian journalists. The former mayor described Russian forces shooting at homes and bombing hospitals.
Renaud has won numerous accolades for his work, including a Peabody and DuPont award, according to his IMDB Biography. He has been producing films for two decades. He often produced films with his brother Craig, the bio says.
Renaud was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, according to a short biography of the filmmaker from Tribeca Film Festival.
PBS NewsHour correspondent Jane Ferguson said Twitter that she saw Renaud’s body under a blanket in Irpen.
“There was nothing Ukrainian doctors could do to help him at this point,” Ferguson said. She said an “outraged Ukrainian officer” told her to “tell America, tell the world, what they did to a journalist.”
Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s unicameral legislative body, said in a Telegram that Renaud’s companion does not yet know that he is dead.
