American filmmaker killed in Ukraine

An American photographer and videographer was killed in Ukraine and another journalist was injured covering the war with Russia.

Kyiv Regional Police Chief Andriy Nebytov wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday that video journalist Brent Renaud had been killed in Ukraine. 

“A 51-year-old world-renowned media correspondent was shot in Irpen today,” Nebytov wrote, according to a Facebook translation of the post. “Another journalist is injured. Now they are trying to remove the victim from the war zone.”

Nebytov posted photos of Renaud’s passport and a New York Times press badge that had his name and photo, identifying him as a journalist with the newspaper.

The Times clarified in a statement posted to Twitter that Renaud was not on assignment for the newspaper in Ukraine. He was carrying a badge that had been issued for an assignment years ago.

“We’re 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,” the newspaper wrote 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,” the newspaper added.

Asked by co-anchor Dana Bash on CNN’s “State Of the Union” about reports that an American journalist was killed in Ukraine, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said he had just been informed of the reports as he came on the air and that he would have to consult with his colleagues, America’s allies and partners, and Ukrainians on the ground “to learn more about what happened.”

He said if an American journalist was killed, it would be “a shocking and horrifying event.”

“It is one more example of the brutality of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and his forces as they targeted schools and mosques and hospitals and journalists, and it is why we are 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,” he added.

Nebytov said Renaud’s death illustrated Russia’s “ingenuity, cruelty and ruthlessness.”

“The occupants cynical kill even journalists of the international media who try to show the truth about the inaction of Russian troops in Ukraine,” Nebytov wrote in a Facebook post, according to a translation by the platform.

“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,” he added.

Updated at 4:37 p.m.