Local producer Oleksandra Kuvshinova, 24, and Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski were killed in Monday’s attack
(Picture: Fox News)People have paid tribute to a “beautiful brave” Ukrainian journalist who was killed while reporting on the Russian invasion.
Local producer Oleksandra Kuvshinova, 24, was killed alongside Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski by an “artillery shelling by Russian troops” outside of Kyiv on Monday.
Tributes have flooded in to Ms Kuvshinova who was known as Sasha.
Fox News producer Yonat Friling wrote on Twitter: “In yesterday’s attack near Kyiv, we have lost a beautiful brave woman - Oleksandra Kuvshinova - Sasha.
“She loved music and she was funny and kind. she was 24 years old. She worked with our team for the past month and did a brilliant job. May her memory be a blessing.”
In yesterday's attack near Kyiv, we have lost a beautiful brave woman - Oleksandra Kuvshinova - Sasha. She loved music and she was funny and kind. she was 24 years old. She worked with our team for the past month and did a brilliant job.
— Yonat Friling (Frühling) (@Foxyonat) March 15, 2022
May her memory be a blessing pic.twitter.com/QGzqV3Fy5D
Miss Kuvshinova had been working with Fox News to “navigate Kyiv and the surrounding area while gathering information and speaking to sources”, the news channel’s chief executive Suzanne Scott said on Tuesday.
Scott told staff: “Sasha was just 24 years old and was serving as a consultant for us in Ukraine. She was helping our crews navigate Kyiv and the surrounding area while gathering information and speaking to sources.
“She was incredibly talented and spent weeks working directly with our entire team there, operating around the clock to make sure the world knew what was happening in her country.
“Our team in Ukraine tells me that Sasha had a passion for music, the arts and photography and was a joy to work with. Several of our correspondents and producers spent long days with her reporting the news and got to know her personally, describing her as hard-working, funny, kind and brave.
“Her dream was to connect people around the world and tell their stories and she fulfilled that through her journalism.”
She added the network had held off on delivering the news out of respect to her family who have now been informed.
NBC’s international affairs analyst Atia Abawi praised Miss Kuvshinova for “sharing the story of her country’s invasion”.
Taking to social media, she wrote: “She was a young Ukrainian journalist sharing the story of her country’s invasion. Our friends who worked with her said she was vibrant & full of life.
“I can’t even imagine the pain her parents are going through right now.”
Please also pray for Oleksandra Kuvshynova’s loved ones. She was a young Ukrainian journalist sharing the story of her country’s invasion. Our friends who worked with her said she was vibrant & full of life. I can’t even imagine the pain her parents are going through right now. https://t.co/lDEzthfYuG
— Atia Abawi (@AtiaAbawi) March 15, 2022
Fox News’ foreign correspondent Trey Yingst described Miss Kuvshinova as “talented, well-sourced and witty”.
He said: “Sasha was killed alongside Pierre. She was talented, well-sourced and witty.
“She liked photography, poetry and music. We became fast friends over a shared love of coffee. She was 24 years old.”
Sasha was killed alongside Pierre. She was talented, well-sourced and witty. She liked photography, poetry and music. We became fast friends over a shared love of coffee. She was 24 years old. pic.twitter.com/5iVcUwZgpu
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) March 15, 2022
Miss Kuvshinova and Mr Zakrzewski died when their vehicle was hit by artillery shelling in the north-eastern part of the village of Horenka, near Kyiv.
Mr Zakrzewski was a war zone photographer who had worked in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
Also in the car was British Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall who was injured in the attack and remains in hospital.
It comes days after US filmmaker Brent Renaud was killed at a checkpoint in Irpin, a city 12-miles north of Kyiv.
Mr Renaud, 50, died after Russian forces opened fire on his vehicle while he was gathering material for a report about refugees.
At least two other Ukrainian journalists have also been killed in the conflict, according to Lyudmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian parliament’s human rights chief.
