An American journalist was killed and another was wounded by Russian forces in the town of Irpin outside the capital of Kyiv as they were traveling to film refugees, Ukrainian police said Sunday.
Brent Renaud, a 50-year-old filmmaker, was killed when Russian troops opened fire, according to Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyiv’s regional police force. Nebytov posted a graphic photo purportedly of Renaud’s body on Facebook, as well as pictures of his American passport and media credentials issued by The New York Times.
A spokeswoman for the Times said Renaud was “a talented filmmaker who had contributed to The New York Times over the years,” most recently in 2015, but he “was not on assignment for any desk at The Times in Ukraine.” TIME issued a statement later Sunday confirming that Renaud had been “in the region working on a TIME Studios project focused on the global refugee crisis.”
The State Department confirmed Renaud’s death in a statement later Sunday, saying it is “offering all possible consular assistance” to his family.
“We offer our sincerest condolences to his family on their loss,” a spokesperson said.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan called reports of Renaud’s death “shocking and horrifying,” telling “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the U.S. and its allies would impose “appropriate consequences” against Russia for the killing.