An American journalist has been killed while covering fighting in Ukraine.  

Former New York Times correspondent Brent Renaud and a colleague came under fire as they filmed refugees trying to flee the besieged town of Irpin, near the capital Kyiv on Sunday.  

Mr Renaud, 51, an award-winning photojournalist and filmmaker, was shot while in a car which had just left passed a Ukrainian army checkpoint when it came under fire.

It has been claimed that Russian forces carried out the shooting.  

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The Chief of the Kyiv Region Police later said on Facebook: “The occupants cynical kill even journalists of the international media who try to show the truth about the inaction of Russian troops in Ukraine. 

“A 51-year-old world-renowned media correspondent was shot in Irpen today 

“New York Times. Another journalist is injured. Now they are trying to remove the victim from the war zone. 

“Of course, the profession of a journalist is a risk, but US citizen Brent Renaud paid his life for trying to highlight the aggressor's ingenuity, cruelty and ruthlessness.” 

The New York Times released a statement, saying: "We are deeply saddened to hear of Brent Renaud's death. Brent was a talented filmmaker who had contributed to The New York Times over the years.  

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"Though he had contributed to The Times in the past (most recently in 2015), he was not on assignment for any desk at The Times in Ukraine.  

“Early reports that he worked for Times circulated because he was wearing a Times press badge that had been issued for an assignment many years ago." 

Mr Renaud's colleague, who did not identify himself, gave a short interview while being treated in hospital. He said the US reporter had been shot in the nck and that they had split up. 

Irpin is a suburb that lies about 12 miles (20km) north-west of central Kyiv. It has been under attack for many days, with bodies reportedly laying out in the open in streets and in a park.

“When I woke up in the morning, everything was covered in smoke, everything was dark. We don’t know who is shooting and where,” resident Serhy Protsenko said as he walked through his neighbourhood. Explosions sounded in the distance. “We don’t have any radio or information.”

The Herald:

Brent Renaud, right, with brother Craig in 2015 

Along with his brother Craig, Mr Renaud won a Peabody Award for Last Chance High, an HBO series about a school for at-risk youngsters on Chicago’s west side.

The brothers’ achievements also included two duPont-Columbia journalism awards and acclaimed productions for HBO, NBC, Discovery, PBS, the New York Times and Vice News.

Mr Renaud was also a 2019 Nieman fellow at Harvard and served as visiting distinguished professor for the Centre for Ethics in Journalism at University of Arkansas. He and his brother founded the Little Rock Film Festival.

Among other assignments, Mr Renaud covered wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the devastating 2011 earthquake in Haiti, political turmoil in Egypt and Libya and extremism in Africa.

Mr Putzel, who worked with Mr Renaud for 12 years, paid tribute to his courage and passion.

“Nowhere was too dangerous,” Mr Putzel said. “It was his bravery but also because he deeply, deeply cared.”

Mr Renaud is survived by his brother Craig, Craig’s wife, Mami, and a nephew, 11-year-old Taiyo.

Responding to news of Mr Renaud’s death, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists called for an immediate halt to violence against journalists and other civilians.

“This kind of attack is totally unacceptable, and is a violation of international law,” the committee said on Twitter.