US journalist killed, another wounded in Ukraine

American journalist Brent Reno

An American journalist was killed and another wounded in a shooting Sunday in the suburb of Irbin, a frontline against Russian forces in northwest Kyiv, medical sources and witnesses said.

Freelance photographer and director Brent Reno, 50, is the first foreign correspondent to be killed in the war since Russia's offensive on Ukraine began on February 24.

A Ukrainian journalist was killed in a Russian bombing of a television broadcasting tower in Kyiv on March 1.

A surgeon who volunteered to assist Ukrainian forces, Danilo Shapovalov, said one of the Americans was killed on the spot while the other treated himself.

AFP reporters in Irbin saw the victim's body.

A Ukrainian who was in the same car with the Americans was also wounded.

Ukrainian officials were quick to blame the Russian forces for the shooting, but the exact circumstances are not yet clear.

AFP reporters heard gunfire from light weapons and artillery at the scene.

"The car came under fire. There were two journalists and a Ukrainian inside," Shapovalov told AFP.

He added that the Ukrainian and the journalist "were injured and first aid was given to them, while the other was hit in the neck and died on the spot."

The documents found in the possession of the American journalist who was killed, indicated that he was a 50-year-old documentarian named Brent Reno.

An identification card issued by the "New York Times" was among the documents, which led to the spread of information that he worked for the newspaper, but the American newspaper confirmed that he was not working for it when he was killed.

"Brent was a talented photographer and filmmaker who collaborated with The New York Times for years," said a statement published by the newspaper's deputy managing editor Cliff Levy.

"Although he has cooperated with The Times in the past, (at the time of his death) he was not on assignment from any of The Times' divisions in Ukraine," he added.

"We are consulting with the Ukrainians to determine how this happened," White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on CBS, denouncing the "shocking and horrific" killing.

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