Brent Renault was filming a documentary about refugees when he was shot dead by Russian troops at a checkpoint outside the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Sunday.
A member of the Ukrainian parliament condemned Russia’s killing of an American journalist on Sunday and called on President Joe Biden to respond as the international community showered tributes.
Documentary journalist Brent Renault, 50, was shot dead by Moscow troops on Sunday as he tried to film refugees fleeing the city of Irpen outside the Ukrainian capital. Two more were injured.
Kyiv MP Inna Sovsun pointed to the US president’s own February 15 words in an attempt to increase pressure and warn that more American deaths could follow.
‘Recently, [Biden] said: “If [Russia] aimed at Americans in [Ukraine] we will respond harshly,” wrote Sovsun on Twitter.
‘Today, [Russian} troops killed American journalist Brent Renaud. I’m sure he is not [Russian President Vladimir Putin’s] the first or last victim of an American. So what will be the answer? And most importantly, when?
As of late Monday morning, Biden had yet to break his silence on Renault’s death.
Florida GOP member Michael Waltz told that killing the journalist was “the normal course” for an autocrat like Putin. He also drew attention to American journalist Austin Tice, who went missing after being kidnapped in Syria in 2012.
“This is a tragedy and, unfortunately, the normal direction for Vladimir Putin’s strategy to root out negative media coverage of his aggression. We have seen the Putin regime repeatedly harass journalists for their critical coverage of conflict zones in Russia, including Chechnya and Syria, and they have since stepped up domestic censorship by passing legislation aimed at further censoring the independent press,” Waltz said.
“Since 2012, American journalist Austin Theis has remained missing after being kidnapped in Damascus, and the US government has called on Russia to assist in his release.”
Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun warned that Renault would not be “the first and last victim of the American (c) Putin.”
On Sunday, Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the brutal killing was “shocking and horrific” and vowed the US would “take appropriate action.”
A leading foreign policy expert said he had only just learned of the attack when he began an interview for the CBS program Face the Nation.
“I will be consulting with my colleagues, we will be consulting with the Ukrainians to determine how it happened and then measure and implement the appropriate consequences as a result of it,” he said.
Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Richard Mills criticized Russia for the attack today during a meeting of the body.
“His death shows that Russia will go to any lengths to silence narratives that challenge its propaganda,” Mills said.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and a host of other international elected officials denounced Russia and mourned Renault’s execution.
Rustem Umerov, another Ukrainian MP, said: “Even terrorists never do that.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, the head of the House Intelligence Committee, spoke out against Putin’s “brutality” but did not call for a US response.
“There is no democracy without a free press. The death of Brent Renault at the hands of the Russian military highlights Putin’s indiscriminate brutality,” Schiff tweeted on Sunday.
In mid-February, Biden vowed to “respond strongly” if Putin becomes a target for an American.
“My prayers are with the Reno family, as well as with journalists in Ukraine and around the world who are risking everything to tell the truth to power.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and said Renault’s murder was a test for “all mankind”.
“Putin’s barbaric actions to kill Brent Renault and other innocent civilians are a test not only for Ukraine, but for all of humanity,” Johnson said.
“In conversation with the President [Zelensky] I assured him that we will continue to do our best to end this pernicious conflict.”
French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke nine times with Putin on the phone after meeting with the autocrat in the Kremlin on February 7, mourned all the journalists who died in the line of duty.
“Today, an American journalist was killed in Ukraine. Before him, others were targeted, killed, injured, or kidnapped. Our thoughts are with all these journalists, driven by courage and an ideal: freedom of information. This freedom is fundamental to our democracies,” Macron said.
Canadian MP Melanie Joly called the news “devastating”.
“In a war fueled by disinformation, the role of journalists is more important than ever. My thoughts are with his family and loved ones,” Jolie tweeted.
Indian MP Vijayasai Reddy stated, “Firing at a foreign press vehicle is highly reprehensible and the war must stop.”
Nigerian politician Shehu Sani urged journalists covering Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine to be careful.
“The murder of American journalist Brent Renault in Ukraine is a tragedy and regret. He died in the line of duty, doing what he loved. Journalists working in Ukraine should be careful,” he said.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he spoke with Ukrainian President Zelensky and condemned Putin’s actions in Ukraine as “barbaric”.
French President Emmanuel Macron, whose office said he had spoken to Putin on the phone nine times since they met face-to-face in early February, also expressed his opinion.
Another Ukrainian MP called the actions of the Russians worse than the actions of “terrorists”.
Renault was in the car with other journalists when Putin’s troops opened fire. He was mortally wounded in the neck, and one of his colleagues was also wounded.
An article in the New York Times reports that Renault experienced a similar incident on a previous mission to Cambodia in the early 1990s, when he drove through a military checkpoint with locals. This prompted the soldiers stationed there to open fire on him, although Renault survived the incident unscathed.
Although Reno had a New York Times press badge at the time of his death, he was actually working as a freelancer on a global refugee film commissioned by the studio division of Time magazine.
Reno’s death was reported by the head of the Kiev police department, Andrei Nebitov, who said he paid “with his life for trying to emphasize the ingenuity, cruelty and ruthlessness of the aggressor.”
Captain Aleksandr Bogay, Irpin’s deputy police chief, said Renault was hit in the head when Russian forces opened fire on his car. The car was driven by a local resident through a Ukrainian checkpoint.
Another American journalist who survived the attack spoke to a correspondent for the Italian newspaper Internazionale from the hospital.
Another American journalist in the truck is named Juan Arreondo. He is shown in the hospital talking to an Italian newspaper about how they were driving across the bridge when Russian troops opened fire on them after the checkpoint.
Juan Arredondo said Renault was shot in the neck and “had to be left behind”.
“We passed the first bridge in Irpen. We were going to film how the other refugees were leaving, we got into the car. Someone offered to lead us to another bridge. We crossed the checkpoint and they started shooting at us. The driver turned around, there were two of us. My friend Brent Renault. He was shot and left. I saw that he was wounded in the neck. We were divided, he said.
Renaud worked for Time magazine’s television and film department on a series about refugees around the world called The Tipping Point.
“Brent was in the region working on a Time Studios project focused on the global refugee crisis,” Time Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal and Time and Time Studios President Ian Orefis said in a statement.
“Our hearts go out to all those close to Brent. It is imperative that journalists can safely cover the ongoing invasion and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.”