Kyiv: Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova was killed on Monday in the same attack near Kyiv that left Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski dead and Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall injured, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said Tuesday.
The three journalists were in the town of Horenka when their vehicle was hit by incoming fire, The Washington Post reports. Kuvshynova, a 24-year-old native of Kyiv, was working for Fox News as a consultant, helping the network with everything from securing interviews to gathering news.
Fox News initially in a statement only announced the death of Zakrzewski, an Irish citizen. Ukrainian officials and Fox News reporters confirmed that Kuvshynova was also killed in the attack.
“RIP Pierre and Sasha,” the Fox News Pentagon correspondent, Lucas Tomlinson, wrote on Twitter, using a diminutive name for the producer, and sharing a recent picture of the two, smiling with Hall.
Zakrzewski, 55, and Kuvshynova, 24, died “as a result of artillery shelling by Russian troops in the north-eastern part of the village of Gorenka”, Ukrainian website kp.ua said.
Fox News did not initially mention Kuvshynova’s death, but in a second statement later on Tuesday, said she had been working as a consultant for the channel.
It read: “She was incredibly talented and spent weeks working directly with our entire team, operating around the clock to make sure the world knew what was happening in her country.”
The statement described Kuvshynova as “hard-working, funny, kind and brave. Her dream was to connect people around the world and tell their stories, and she fulfilled that through her journalism.”
The statement added: “We held off on delivering this devastating news earlier today out of respect for her family whom we have been in touch with throughout.”
Yonat Friling, a Fox News field producer, tweeted: “In yesterday’s attack near Kyiv, we have lost a beautiful brave woman – Oleksandra Kuvshinova – Sasha. She loved music and she was funny and kind. she was 24 years old. She worked with our team for the past month and did a brilliant job. May her memory be a blessing.”
On Sunday, Ukrainian authorities said Renaud, an award-winning filmmaker, was killed by Russian forces in Irpin, outside Kyiv. An American photographer, Juan Arredondo, was wounded.