Brent Renaud

2022 - 3 - 13

Post cover — Image courtesy of "Havana Times"

Brent Renaud, First US Reporter Killed in Ukraine - Havana Times (Havana Times)

On Sunday, the US journalist and filmmaker Brent Renaud was shot dead near Kyiv while working on a documentary about refugees.

There’s a Ukrainian journalist that was killed in the shelling of a communications tower in Kyiv. So, there’s — yes. This is — justice in this case, and in other cases of killed journalists, is essential to really bring things to a place where we can see, well, there is some kind of closure, despite the tragic event, the loss for the family, the loss for the journalism community and the loss for the public. Brent was terribly important as an educator for all Americans to understand the horrors of war and the unnecessary expense in life, in lives and in money for the wars. And we have to prevent one and get rid of the other. And also journalists killed because other reasons are also usually — I mean, other settings — there are never reason to kill journalists — but other settings, other circumstances are usually local journalists. And who wants to destroy the world and the lives of everybody in it? In fact, one of the works that the Renaud brothers did, one of their films, was the Bridge to Baghdad, and they went together with our colleague Sharif Abdel Kouddous in 2003 to Iraq to make that. AMY GOODMAN: That was the photographer Juan Arredondo, who was wounded Sunday in a shooting in the Ukrainian city of Irpin, just outside Kyiv. At the time that he was speaking in the hospital, Juan didn’t know that Brent Renaud was dead. Right away in April, which was one of the bloodiest months of the war, when we arrived, there were, right off the bat, a lot of injuries and deaths, particularly with Echo Troop, who you just saw on the clip. Can you talk about, first, your response to hearing the news, and what Brent and his work has meant, and how it epitomizes independent media that came out of your Downtown Community Television, founded by Jon Alpert, the great filmmaker? “He shouldn’t have been killed,” says Weiss. “Brent was terribly important as an educator for all Americans to understand the horrors of war and the unnecessary expense in life.” Carlos Martínez de la Serna of the Committee to Protect Journalists says Renaud’s killing amounts to a war crime. At the time of his death, Brent Renaud was working on a documentary for Time Studios about global refugees.

Zelensky mourns 'brave' US journalist Brent Renaud in touching ... (New York Post)

Renaud was fatally shot in the neck when Russian troops opened fire on the car he was traveling in near the Romanivsky Bridge in the town of Irpin, ...

Renaud previously won a Peabody Award for his work alongside his brother, Craig, who was among the kin Zelensky addressed his letter to. “We are deeply saddened to hear of Brent Renaud’s death. Arredondo said they had just crossed a bridge to film refugees fleeing the violence.

Zelensky pays tribute to "courage" of U.S. journalist killed in Ukraine (Axios)

Driving the news: Zelensky, who personally wrote Renaud's family to express his "heartfelt condolences" after the documentary filmmaker was killed by Russian ...

- Zelensky added that Ukrainians, "who are fighting against the Russian regime to defend their homeland and democracy in the world, are mourning with you." Driving the news: Zelensky, who personally wrote Renaud's family to express his "heartfelt condolences" after the documentary filmmaker was killed by Russian troops, described the 50-year-old as a " talented and brave journalist." Zelensky pays tribute to "courage" of U.S. journalist killed in Ukraine

US film-maker Brent Renaud killed by Russian forces in Ukraine (unknown)

Award-winning journalist and a colleague, who survived, were fired on near checkpoint in Irpin.

Reporting like this is vital to establish the facts, who is lying and who is telling the truth. We know there is no substitute for being there – and we’ll stay on the ground, as we did during the 1917 revolution, the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s, the collapse of 1991 and the first Russo-Ukrainian conflict in 2014. We got into a car … Someone offered to take us to the other bridge and we crossed a checkpoint and they started shooting at us,” Arredondo said. Greater numbers of people can keep track of the global events shaping our world, understand their impact on people and communities, and become inspired to take meaningful action. Outraged Ukrainian police officer: ‘Tell America, tell the world, what they did to a journalist.’”Clifford Levy, a deputy managing editor of the New York Times, issued a statement on Twitter clarifying that Renaud was not on assignment for the paper, contrary to earlier reports.“[The New York Times] is deeply saddened to learn of the death of an American journalist in Ukraine, Brent Renaud. Brent was a talented photographer and film-maker, but he was not on assignment for the New York Times in Ukraine. Early reports that he worked for Times circulated because he was wearing a Times press badge he had been issued for an assignment many years ago.”Levy added: “Brent’s death is a terrible loss. Tens of millions have placed their trust in the Guardian’s fearless journalism since we started publishing 200 years ago, turning to us in moments of crisis, uncertainty, solidarity and hope. US film-maker Brent Renaud killed by Russian forces in UkraineAward-winning journalist and a colleague, who survived, were fired on near checkpoint in Irpin Brent Renaud’s death was described by a New York Times official as ‘a terrible loss’. Photograph: Andrew Toth/FilmMagicBrent Renaud’s death was described by a New York Times official as ‘a terrible loss’. Photograph: Andrew Toth/FilmMagicPeter Beaumont in Lviv and Martin Pengelly in New YorkBrent Renaud, an award-winning US film-maker whose work has appeared in the New York Times and other outlets, has been killed by Russian forces in the flashpoint town of Irpin, outside Kyiv. A US photographer, Juan Arredondo, was wounded. It is one more example of the brutality of Vladimir Putin and his forces as they’ve targeted schools and mosques and hospitals and journalists.“And it is why we are working so hard to impose severe consequences on him, and to try to help the Ukrainians with every form of military assistance we can muster, to be able to push back against the onslaught of these Russian forces.”Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has abruptly transformed the world. Brave journalists like Brent take tremendous risks to bear witness and to tell the world about the devastation and suffering caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”The Kyiv region police chief, Andrei Nebitov, said in a statement: “The occupiers are cynically killing even journalists of international media who are trying to show the truth about the atrocities of Russian troops in Ukraine.”Arredondo, 45, a World Press Photo winner and adjunct professor at Columbia University, said he and Renaud had gone to Irpin to film refugees escaping the town, and they were fired on by forces near a checkpoint. It’s our job at the Guardian to decipher a rapidly changing landscape, particularly when it involves a mounting refugee crisis and the risk of unthinkable escalation. And we got split.”The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told CNN: “If in fact an American journalist was killed, it is a shocking and horrifying event. Renaud, 51, was hit in the neck and died after coming under Russian fire while working on Sunday, according to local police officials and multiple Ukrainian sources.Jane Ferguson, a reporter for PBS Newshour who was nearby when Renaud was killed, tweeted: “Just left roadside spot near Irpin where body of American journalist Brent Renaud lay under a blanket.

Brent Renaud, Crusading Filmmaker, Is Killed at 50 (unknown)

He traveled around the world and the United States making documentaries about urgent moral issues. He was shot to death while filming in Ukraine.

Migration under desperate circumstances was a recurring subject for Brent, who with Craig also made documentaries about Haitians deported from the United States and children fleeing poverty and danger in Central America. His death was confirmed by Craig Renaud, who was not with him in Ukraine at the time. Brent Renaud, who with his brother Craig formed a Peabody Award-winning documentary film team that drew attention to human suffering, often working with major news organizations like The New York Times, was fatally shot in Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv, on Sunday. He was 50.

Journalist Brent Renaud is killed while reporting on the war in Ukraine (NPR)

An advisor to Ukraine's interior ministry said Renaud was killed and another journalist was wounded in Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv.

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