A video journalist for Fox News has been killed in Ukraine after the vehicle he was traveling in outside of Kyiv with another reporter was struck by incoming fire, the US network said. Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, had covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria for Fox, according to a memo sent to the broadcaster’s employees.
“His passion and talent as a journalist were unmatched,” Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News Media, said in the memo. Reporter Benjamin Hall has been in hospital since Monday, when the two men’s vehicle was hit in Horenka, the network said. Mr Zakrzewski, who was based in London, was the second journalist to be killed in Ukraine in two days.
Brent Renaud, a documentary filmmaker and another veteran of covering war zones, died on Sunday after Russian forces opened fire on his vehicle. Ms Scott said of Mr Zakrzewski: “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.”
Last year, Mr Zakrzewski played a key role in getting Fox’s freelancers and their families out of Afghanistan after the US withdrawal, Ms Scott said. Mr Zakrzewski was given an “unsung hero” award at an annual employee event. He had been working in Ukraine since last month.
“Today is a heartbreaking day for Fox News Media and for all journalists risking their lives to deliver the news,” Ms Scott said. In Washington on Tuesday, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, thanked reporters who are on the ground in Ukraine. She said at the National Press Club that “risking their lives to tell the world the truth” is something that Ukraine and the world desperately needs.
