A US journalist was killed by Russian forces in the northern Ukrainian city of Irpin on Sunday, according to the New York Times, where he had contributed before.
According to reports, Brent Renaud was shot in the neck while working on Sunday, while another US journalist, Juan Arredondo, was wounded.
“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,” New York Times said in a statement.
“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,” it clarified.
According to Arredondo, the two were on their way to film people leaving Kyiv when they crossed a checkpoint and came under fire.
“Somebody offered to take us to the other bridge, and we crossed a checkpoint, and they started shooting at us. So the driver turned around, and they kept shooting, two of us. My friend is Brent Renaud, and he’s been shot and left behind,” CBS quotes Arredondo. “I saw him being shot in the neck, and we got split, and I got pulled.”
In response to Renaud’s death, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said it was “shocking and horrifying,” and noted that the U.S. and its allies would impose “appropriate consequences” against Russia for the killing.
