New York, March 13, 2022 – U.S. reporter Brent Renaud was shot and killed, and another journalist was injured on Sunday in the city of Irpin, outside of Kyiv, according to a Ukrainian police official and news reports. In denouncing the shooting, the Committee to Protect Journalists called for the killers to be brought to justice.
Kyiv Regional Police Chief Andriy Nebytov published a post on Facebook saying that Russian forces opened fire on Renaud and another U.S. journalist. CPJ was unable to immediately confirm the source of the gunfire, and reports by the New York Times and AFP stated that the circumstances surrounding the shooting were not clear.
In an interview posted to Twitter, the second reporter, whom The Guardian identified as photographer Juan Arredondo, said that Renaud was shot in the neck as they passed through a checkpoint in Irpin. Nebytov wrote that Renaud was killed and Arredondo was injured.
“We are shocked and saddened to learn of the death of U.S. journalist Brent Renaud in Ukraine. This kind of attack is totally unacceptable, and is a violation of international law,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director, in New York. “Russian forces in Ukraine must stop all violence against journalists and other civilians at once, and whoever killed Renaud should be held to account.”
In a statement, the New York Times said that Renaud was wearing a press badge from the newspaper at the time of the attack, but was not on assignment for the Times and had not contributed to the paper since 2015.
After the publication of this article, Time published a statement saying that Renaud had been working on a project covering refugees in the region for Time Studios, the company’s film and television production wing.
Renaud’s personal website states that he and his brother worked together as documentary filmmakers and television producers and had received a Peabody Award for their work. The website says they previously worked from Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Latin America.
Arredondo’s website says he is a Colombian-American photographer who has contributed to the New York Times, National Geographic, and other outlets.
[Editors’ note: This article has been updated to include the statement from Time and to correct the spelling of Nebytov’s name.]