Kyiv/ Washington: Pierre Zakrzewski, a cameraman for Fox News, was killed while working in Ukraine, Fox News Media chief executive Suzanne Scott announced to employees in a memo on Tuesday morning.
Zakrzewski, 55, was travelling in a car on Monday with Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall when their vehicle was struck by an incoming fire. The network said on Monday that Hall, a State Department correspondent, has been hospitalized with his injuries, but no further update has been given on his condition.
The two were hit while travelling in Horenka, outside of Kyiv, Scott said. Zakrzewski, who was based in London, had been working in Ukraine since February.
Scott described Zakrzewski as a network veteran “who covered nearly every international story for Fox News from Iraq to Afghanistan to Syria during his long tenure with us. His passion and talent as a journalist were unmatched. His talents were vast and there wasn’t a role that he didn’t jump in to help with in the field — from photographer to engineer to the editor to producer — and he did it all under immense pressure with tremendous skill. He was profoundly committed to telling the story and his bravery, professionalism and work ethic were renowned among journalists at every media outlet. He was wildly popular — everyone in the media industry who has covered a foreign story knew and respected Pierre.”
Jay Wallace, the president of the Fox News Channel, said that “the legacy of his positive spirit, boundless energy and eye for the story will carry on.”
Scott also credited Zakrzewski with playing “a key role” in helping to evacuate people who worked with the network, and their families, from Afghanistan last summer. He was given the network’s “Unsung Hero” award in December.
Zakrzewski’s death comes during a particularly violent and dangerous phase for journalists covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On Sunday, an American documentary filmmaker, Brent Renaud, was fatally shot while reporting outside Kyiv Sunday.
Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer announced Zakrzewski’s death on the network’s air on Tuesday. “Pierre Zakrzewski was an absolute legend at this network, and his loss is devastating,” Hemmer said.
John Roberts, the Fox News anchor who announced Hall’s injury on Monday, said on Twitter that Zakrzewski was “an absolute treasure.” Fox News foreign correspondent Trey Yingst, who is reporting from Ukraine, shared a photo with Zakrzewski. “Pierre was as good as they come,” he wrote. “Selfless. Brave. Passionate. I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward also paid tribute to Zakrzewski, her friend. She called him “an extraordinary spirit and tremendous talent and one of the kindest, most gracious colleagues on the road.”
(Photo: Pierre Zakrzewski, left, along with correspondent Steve Harrigan and senior field producers Yonat Frilling and Ibrahim Hazboun in Kyiv.)