Videographer Brent Renaud, a well-known war journalist and former New York Times correspondent, was shot dead on Sunday in Irpen, Kiev Region Police Chief Andrei Nebytov has said. The New York Times has stated the journalist was not on assignment for it.
The circumstances surrounding Renaud’s death are unclear, but the city of Irpen has been the scene of heavy fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces in recent days.
Renaud “paid his life for trying to highlight the aggressor’s ingenuity, cruelty and ruthlessness,” Nebytov wrote on Facebook on Sunday, referring to the Russian military. In another post shortly afterwards, Nebytov shared an image of a bloodied corpse with a bullet wound near the ear, presumably that of Renaud.
In addition to the 51-year-old reporter’s killing, two more correspondents were injured, Nebytov said, adding that they were “rescued from the scene” and taken to a hospital in Kiev.
At the time of writing, the White House had not confirmed reports of Renaud’s death, and was consulting with Kiev, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said shortly afterwards.
Renaud was a well-known war correspondent and had reported from conflict zones in the Middle East and Latin America. While he was identified in several reports as a New York Times correspondent, the newspaper on Sunday put out a statement immediately after his apparent death saying that “he was not on assignment for any desk at the Times in Ukraine,” and that he “was wearing a Times press badge that had been issued for an assignment many years ago.” Renaud had most recently worked for the New York Times in 2015.
Situated on the outskirts of Kiev, Irpen has been the scene of intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces for several days, and it is unclear how or even if Renaud got caught in the middle. Likewise, Nebytov is the only official to have blamed Russia for the shooting.
An unverified video shared by Italian journalist Annalisa Camilli purportedly shows one of Renaud’s companions, who identifies himself as “Juan,” lying on a hospital bed. “Juan”tells Camilli that the journalists were taken past a checkpoint by someone who offered them a ride, when their car was fired upon.
🔴🔴 Two American journalist shot by Russian at Irpin bridge. One is under surgery at the main hospital in Kyiv and the other was shot at the neck. pic.twitter.com/9lihX1JJ58
The Guardian named him as Juan Arredondo, a Colombian-American photographer. He can be seen in the video wearing a badge of the American Spanish-language network Telemundo, but the network has not yet commented on the incident.
According to the man, the driver turned around, but Renaud was shot in the neck and left behind as the man was taken to hospital, possibly in an ambulance. The man did not say who did the shooting, or whether their ride past the checkpoint was in a civilian or military vehicle.
It is unclear whether anyone else was injured, as Nebytov originally stated that “two more correspondents” had been hit, yet the man named only himself and Renaud as traveling in the vehicle.
Several international journalists were nearby at the time of the shooting, and Bild journalist Paul Ronzheimer shared footage apparently showing the man being evacuated on a stretcher by several men in Ukrainian military and emergency services uniforms.
Ein 51-jähriger US-Journalist ist heute in Irpin, einem Vorort von Kyiv, getötet worden. Sein Kollege, mit dem er unterwegs war, konnte verletzt gerettet werden. Das Video, das wir unter der Brücke aufgenommen haben, zeigt die Evakuierung des verletzten Kollegen. pic.twitter.com/TemuQaUL50
RT (Russia Today) is a state-owned news organization funded by the Russian government. The information provided by this news source is being included by the Libertarian Hub not as an endorsement of the Russian government, but rather because it is being actively censored by Big Tech, Western governments and the corporate press. During times of conflict it is imperative that we have access to both sides of the story so we can form our own opinions, even if both sides are spewing their own propaganda. The censorship of RT, despite likely being a propaganda outfit for the Russian government, reduces our ability to hear one side of the conflict. For that reason, the Libertarian Hub will temporarily republish the RSS feed from RT. Visit https://rt.com
