A freelance journalist working for Fox News was killed in an attack outside Kyiv on Monday, the network announced. The journalist is the second Fox News team member to be killed while covering the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
Oleksandra Kuvshynova was killed near the capital city when the vehicle she was in was struck by incoming fire, according to NPR. She was 24-years-old.
Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said the young journalist – known as “Sasha” — was working as a Fox News consultant in Ukraine at the time of her death.
Scott said Kuvshynova was “incredibly talented” and provided Fox News crews with invaluable knowledge on how to get around Kyiv and nearby areas while gathering information and working with sources.
“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.
“Her dream was to connect people around the world and tell their stories and she fulfilled that through her journalism,” she added.
Scott explained that the network delayed announcing Kuvshynova’s death out of respect for her family.
The network announced on Tuesday that cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski was also killed in the attack.
“It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we share the news this morning regarding our beloved cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski. Pierre was killed in Horenka, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine,” Scott said in a statement. “Pierre 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. His passion and talent as a journalist were unmatched.”
“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 among journalists at every media outlet. He was wildly popular – everyone in the media industry who has covered a foreign story knew and respected Pierre,” she added.
Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall was hospitalized after the same attack that killed Kuvshynova and Zakrzewski.
“This is a stark reminder for all journalists who are putting their lives on the line every day to deliver the news from a war zone,” Scott said in a statement regarding Hall’s condition, according to The Washington Post.
The Military Reporters & Editors Association expressed condolences for the journalists’ deaths.
“The world is a lesser place without these champions for the truth,” the association said, according to NPR. “We once again call for the protection of journalists in Ukraine to be able to do their important work without fear of violence or intimidation.”
