Two other journalists die after their vehicle was shot at in Ukraine

Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kurshynova and cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski died on Tuesday as a result of the attacks in kyiv. According to the version spread by several local and American media, Zakrzewski, a veteran of the American television network Fox News, and Kurshynova, the team’s producer, were traveling on the outskirts of kyiv on Monday when their vehicle was shot at. Other sources indicated, for their part, that the car would have been hit by artillery fire. The event occurred in Horenka, in an area battered by fighting between Russian forces and Ukrainian resistance fighters.

The two professionals were seriously injured and died as they were unable to overcome their injuries. Meanwhile, a third member of the group, the journalist Benjamin Hall, is admitted to a hospital in serious condition, since he was also hit by the projectiles. The Ministry of Defense reported that the 39-year-old British national has lost “part of a leg.”

Oleksandra Kurshynova, a native of kyiv, was 24 years old and had stayed in her city to report on the war. The young journalist was doing production work on the ground for the television network. For his part, Pierre Zakrzewski was a veteran who had previously covered the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. 55 years old, he had been in Ukraine since the beginning of February. His colleagues called him an “absolute legend” and Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott recalled his “passion and talent.” In his last message on social networks, the reporter promised to do as much journalistic work as possible to try to help the Ukrainian population.

attacks against vehicles

The attack on the Fox News vehicle came a day after another journalist, fellow American Brett Renaud, was also shot to death while driving across a bridge in Irpin, another of the cities hardest hit by the Russian Army. Renaud worked for ‘Time’ magazine.

The Human Rights Commissioner of the Ukrainian Parliament, Liudmila Denisova, confirmed that at least two other journalists had died in the country in the context of the conflict. Denisova cited Victor Dudar, who lost his life near Nikolaev; and cameraman Yevhen Sakun, killed in a rocket attack in the capital, kyiv.

According to Denisova, “the Russian occupiers are fighting objective coverage of their war crimes in Ukraine” and are “killing and shooting” reporters covering the events. In addition, she denounced that Russia tries to “impose racist propaganda and ideology and suppress all other information resources.” To do this, in her opinion, over the last few weeks he has attacked the television towers of kyiv, Lutsk and Rivne.

The International Federation of Journalists yesterday showed its condemnation against the “systematic” attacks carried out against informants and asked to open investigations in this regard. His IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, noted that “journalists must be able to safely inform the world about this war. We urge all parties to stop attacking them on the ground, violating international law and constituting war crimes,” he added.