These are the journalists confirmed dead in Ukraine

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This article was published 15/03/2022 (1018 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At least four journalists have been killed covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Their deaths are a grim reminder of the dangers facing journalists who enter war zones to keep the public informed about a fast-paced, ever-evolving situation. The four journalists, who range in age from 24 to 55 and hail from the U.S., Ireland and Ukraine, were caught amid gunfire and shelling around Kyiv while news gathering.

Other attacks against the press have also been recorded. Stuart Ramsay, chief correspondent with U.K.-based television network Sky News, recounted a harrowing attack on his team “by a saboteur Russian reconnaissance squad.” Ramsay was injured, and the team is now at home in the U.K.

In a statement sent to the Star, Brent Jolly, national president of the Canadian Association of Journalists, said journalists “shoulder huge responsibilities” in times of war or crisis. The public service duties journalists offer, he added, is paramount to ensuring the public has the information they need.

“Fulfilling this mandate, particularly during the time of conflict and crisis, comes at a great personal cost to many journalists, which must be acknowledged and taken seriously,” Jolly wrote.

Brent Renaud

Award-winning journalist and filmmaker Brent Renaud, 50, was fatally shot near Kyiv on March 13 after he and a colleague, Juan Arrendondo, came under gunfire as they passed a military checkpoint in Iprin, a suburb of Kyiv. Arrendondo was reportedly recovering days later.

Renaud was on assignment for Time, filming a project on the global refugee crisis. In a statement, Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal and Time president Ian Orefice wrote that Renaud “tackled the toughest stories around the world often alongside his brother Craig Renaud.

“Our hearts are with all of Brent’s loved ones. It is essential that journalists are able to safely cover this ongoing invasion and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine,” they continued.

In 2015, the Renaud brothers received a Peabody Award for their VICE series “Last Chance High,” which focused on at-risk students at a Chicago high school. The pair also produced “Dope Sick Love,” an Emmy Award-nominated documentary that aired on HBO.

Pierre Zakrzewski

Longtime Fox News camera operator Pierre Zakrzweski, 55, was killed March 14 near Kyiv, after a vehicle he was travelling in alongside Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova and Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall came under fire. Kuvshynova was killed, and Hall was hospitalized.

Zakrzewski was an Irish foreign correspondent based out of London for Fox and worked with the television network on stories in conflict zones in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine. In a statement about Zakrzewsk’s death, the network wrote “his talents were vast and there wasn’t a role 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.”

Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova

Oleksandra Kuvshynova was killed alongside Fox News camera operator Zakrzewski near Kyiv on March 14.

In a tweet, Fox News producer Yonat Friling wrote that 24-year-old Kuvshynova, was a “beautiful brave woman” who loved music. The young journalist had been working with Fox for a month, Friling wrote.

In a statement circulated to employees, the TV network confirmed Kuvshynova was working as a consultant in Ukraine, helping crews navigate Kyiv and the surrounding area. “She was incredibly talented and spent weeks working directly with our entire team here, operating around the clock to make sure the world knew what was happening in her country,” the statement reads.

Yevhenii Sakun

Ukrainian journalist Yevhenii Sakun, 49, was killed March 1 after a TV transmission tower was shelled by Russian forces. In a press release about Sakun’s death, the International Federation of Journalists wrote they “condemn the killing as a war crime and urges the Russian military to not target media workers and facilities.”

On Twitter, Ukrainian journalist Olga Tokariuk wrote that the two had previously been colleagues and it was “a pleasure working with (Sakun). I’m devastated by this news.”

Sakun worked as a camera operator for the Ukrainian television station LIVE.

Jenna Moon is a general assignment reporter for the Star and is based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @_jennamoon