Pierre Zakrzewski, a veteran journalist for Fox News, and freelance journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova were sadly killed just outside Kyiev on Monday. The teammates were traveling in their vehicle when struck by incoming fire, according to the news network.
An citizen of Ireland, Zakrzewski had made a career out of covering dangerous conflicts for Fox News, with Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan already on his resume. The journalist was 55 years old.
In an internal memo to the staff, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott commended Zakrzewski for his “unmatched talent and passion.”
“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 editor to producer — and he did it all under immense pressure with tremendous skill,” she said.
Previously, during the final days of American occupation in Afghanistan, Zakrzewski assisted Afghan freelancers in their dangerous escape out of the embattled country.
In a separate memo, Scott said Kuvshynova, who went by “Sasha,” was hired to be a consultant for Fox News in Ukraine. Mrs Kuvshynova was just 24 years of age.
Coworkers described Kuvshynova as “incredibly talented” and vital in helping news crews move around the war-torn city.
“Our team in Ukraine tells me that Sasha had a passion for music, the arts and photography and was a joy to work with. Several of our correspondents and producers spent long days with her reporting the news and got to know her personally, describing her as hard-working, funny, kind and brave,” Scott said.
Unfortunately, these were not the first journalists to die in this conflict. Documentary filmmaker Brent Renaud was killed in Irpin on Sunday, alongside Juan Arrendondo, a journalist traveling with Renaud..
That is so sad to hear they were reporting reality of what was happening to the public my heart and condolences to the families