An American journalist was killed and another wounded by Russian forces in Irpen near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, the Kyiv Region Police head said Sunday.
The killed journalist was identified by Ukrainian police as Brent Renaud, a 51-year-old journalist, filmmaker and US citizen. While Ukrainian authorities initially identified Renaud as a The New York Times correspondent, he was not in Ukraine reporting on behalf of The Times.
"We are deeply saddened to hear of Brent Renaud's death. Brent was a talented filmmaker who had contributed to The New York Times over the years," read a statement from the outlet. "Though he had contributed to The Times in the past (most recently in 2015), he was not on assignment for any desk at The Times in Ukraine. Early reports that he worked for Times circulated because he was wearing a Times press badge that had been issued for an assignment many years ago."
Two American journalists went to film refugees leaving Irpin when they were shot at after crossing a checkpoint. The NYT journalist (I will not tweet the name) was shot in the neck and killed. His colleague was shot as well but evacuated to hospital.
— Anna Ahronheim (@AAhronheim) March 13, 2022
"Today American journalist and filmmaker Brent Renaud was killed by the Russian army near Kyiv. Another journalist was wounded," tweeted Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko. "We urge international media organizations to condemn the barbaric killing of civilians in Ukraine and to demand an immediate cessation of hostilities by Russia. "
"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," Kyiv Region Police chief Andriy Nebytov said on Facebook.
This is a developing story,