National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CBS News on Sunday that the US would consult the Ukrainian government to determine how American “war correspondent” Brent Renaud was killed in Irpin, near Kiev. Ukrainian sources blame Russian forces, but details of the incident remain unclear.
“I will be consulting with my colleagues, we’ll be consulting with the Ukrainians to determine how this happened and then to measure and execute appropriate consequences as a result of it,” Sullivan told CBS.
“This is part and parcel of what has been the brazen aggression on the part of the Russians where they have targeted civilians… and they have targeted journalists,” he said.
There is something very fishy about the whole story, in particularly how the “journalist” got shot and killed, and why was his injured partner so calm in the hospital. Also note, his partner doesn’t mention Russians at any point. In addition, multiple media outlets have already reported that Renaud was a CIA field operative, and it appears very likely he was shot by Ukrainians, not Russians.
News of Renaud’s death was first reported by Kiev Region Police chief Andrei Nebytov, who shared images of a New York Times press pass belonging to Renaud and a bloodied corpse – allegedly the journalist’s. Nebytov accused Russian forces of killing the reporter.
The Times issued a statement shortly afterwards saying that Renaud was not on assignment in Ukraine, and had last worked for the newspaper in 2015.
Renaud’s colleague, a Colombian-American photographer named by The Guardian as Juan Arredondo, was wounded, and told another reporter in hospital that they were fired upon after they were driven past a checkpoint to film refugees leaving Irpen. He did not say who fired, or whether himself and Renaud were being driven in a military or civilian vehicle.
