Lifestyle & Sports
15 Mar 22

Taoiseach Micheál Martin 'deeply saddened' by killing of Irish citizen Pierre Zakrzewski in Ukraine

The photographer died after the vehicle he was travelling in with reporter Benjamin Hall was struck by incoming fire, US broadcaster Fox News said.

An Irish citizen and journalist working as a Fox News cameraman, Pierre Zakrzewski, has been killed outside of Kiev, Ukraine.

The Taoiseach said he was: “Deeply disturbed and saddened by the killing of Irish citizen and journalist Pierre Zakrzewski and one of his colleagues today. My thoughts are with their families, friends and fellow journalists. We condemn this indiscriminate and immoral war by Russia.”

The cameraman and photographer died after the vehicle the 55-year-old was travelling in with reporter Benjamin Hall was struck by incoming fire, according to Fox News.

Hall has been in hospital since the incident, which took place on Monday as the pair were reporting in Horenka, outside of Kyiv, the network said.

As a war photographer, Zakrzewski had covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria for Fox News, according to a memo sent to Fox employees by Suzanne Scott, chief executive of Fox News Media.

“His passion and talent as a journalist were unmatched,” Ms Scott said. It marks the second journalist to be killed in Ukraine in the last two days.

Fox News president and executive editor Jay Wallace added: "Pierre was 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.

"The legacy of his positive spirit, boundless energy and eye for the story will carry on."

An Irish broadcaster who knew Pierre, Pat O’Mahony, says it was “a job he loved. Dangerous work. Running towards danger when everyone else is running away from it.”

Brent Renaud, a documentary filmmaker and another veteran of covering war zones, died on Sunday after Russian forces opened fire on his vehicle.

The US journalist was shot dead in the town of Irpin, police said. The 50-year-old filmmaker was working in the region for Time Magazine.

Kyiv's police chief Andriy Nebytov said he had been targeted by Russian soldiers, with two other journalists injured and taken to hospital. It was the first reported death of a foreign journalist covering the war in Ukraine.

Additional reporting by Cate McCurry, PA