Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski was killed in Ukraine on Monday when his vehicle came under fire, the US network said.
A veteran war cameraman, Zakrzewski had been reporting in Ukraine since February. He was traveling in the same vehicle as Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall, who was also injured in the attack, which occurred in the town of Horenka, with Hall remaining in the hospital in the country.
In a memo to staff on Tuesday, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott announced the news about Zakrzewski, calling it “a heartbreaking day” for the network.
“Pierre (Zakrzewski) was a war zone photographer who covered nearly every international story for Fox News from Iraq to Afghanistan to Syria during his long tenure with us,” Scott wrote. “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.”
Based in London, Zakrzewski assisted last year in Fox News’ efforts to extract its staff from Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the country.
Pierre Zakrzewski was “profoundly committed”
Zakrzewski was “profoundly committed to telling the story and his bravery, professionalism and work ethic were renowned among journalists at every media outlet,” Scott wrote.
In Scott’s memo, Fox News President Jay Wallace called Zakrzewski “a constant in all of our international coverage.
“I, like countless others, always felt an extra sense of reassurance when arriving on the scene and seeing him with camera in hand,” Wallace wrote. “The legacy of his positive spirit, boundless energy and eye for the story will carry on.”
Trey Yingst, a Fox News foreign correspondent reporting from Ukraine, posted a photograph on Twitter of himself and Zakrzewski.
I don’t know what to say. Pierre was as good as they come. Selfless. Brave. Passionate. I’m so sorry this happened to you. pic.twitter.com/IvxlPWGDAl
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) March 15, 2022
Second American journalist to be killed in Ukraine in two days
On Sunday, American filmmaker and journalist Brent Renaud was shot and killed while reporting in a suburb of Kyiv.
Renaud was killed in Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv that has come under intense bombing by Russian forces recently.
Local police in Kyiv say that Russian troops opened fire on the journalist’s car as he tried to film refugees escaping the country.
A Peabody award-winning filmmaker and journalist, Renaud had previously worked for news organizations such as NBC and HBO.
Police posted images of Renaud’s press badge on social media, which stated that he was affiliated with The New York Times, fueling speculation that he was on assignment with the paper in Ukraine at the time he was killed. The Times later announced that he was not reporting for the paper when he was hit.
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