Who Is Brent Renaud And How Did He Die In Ukraine?

An American freelance filmmaker has been shot dead while covering the war in Ukraine, Kyiv police announced on Sunday.

Brent Renaud, 51, was in a car with other journalists in Irpen when Russian troops opened fire. He was shot dead and one of his colleagues was injured.

Initially, he was thought to have been on assignment for The New York Times because he was carrying a press badge that listed the newspaper as his publication.

Another US journalist who survived the attack spoke to a reporter for Italian paper Internazionale from the hospital.

He said Renaud had been shot in the neck and ‘had to be left behind’.

‘We had crossed the first bridge in Irpen. We were going to film other refugees leaving we got into a car. Somebody offered to take us to the other bridge.

‘We crossed a checkpoint and they started shooting at us. The driver turned around, there were two of us. My friend is Brent Renaud.

‘He has been shot and left behind. I saw he has been shot in the neck. We got split,’ he said.

The journalist, who gave his name only as Juan, said he was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

PBS reporter Jane Ferguson, who is in Ukraine, tweeted: ‘Just left roadside spot near Irpin where body of American journalist Brent Renaud lay under a blanket. Ukrainian medics could do nothing to help him by that stage.

‘Outraged Ukrainian police officer: “Tell America, tell the world, what they did to a journalist.”’

The Times has however issued a statement to clarify that while Renaud worked for them in the past, he was not in Ukraine on assignment for them.

‘We are deeply saddened to hear of Brent Renaud’s death. Brent was a talented photographer and filmmaker who contributed to The New York Times over the years.

‘Though he had contributed to The Times in the past (most recently in 2015), he was not on assignment for The Times in Ukraine.

‘Early reports that he worked for The Times circulated because he was wearing a Times press badge that had been issued for an assignment many years ago,’ Cliff Levy, Deputy Managing Editor, said in a statement.

The White House has not commented on Renaud’s death. Photo Credit: Getty