Despite the White House promising consequences for Russia, circumstances surrounding Brent Renaud’s shooting are still unclear
Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor of the USA told CBS News Sunday that the US will consult with the Ukrainian government in order to find out how American War correspondent Brent Renaud was murdered in Irpin (near Kiev). The incident is still being investigated by the Ukrainian authorities, although they have claimed that Russian forces are to blame.
“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.
The US has yet to decide what type of response they will offer. President Joe Biden is insistent that America will not militarily engage Russia in Ukraine. Sullivan echoed the sentiment but stated that it wasn’t clear how they would respond. “If Russia attacks, fires upon, takes a shot at NATO territory, the NATO alliance would respond to that.”
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 claimed that the Russians killed Renaud.
The Times soon issued a statement stating that Renaud had not been assigned to Ukraine. He was last employed by the Times 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. It was not clear who fired or whether Renaud or himself were in a civilian vehicle. At the time, several Western journalists were present.
International Federation of Journalists blamed Russia for Renaud’s death, claiming that he “died after coming under Russian fire.” The Committee to Protect Journalists meanwhile called on Renaud’s killers to be brought to justice, but admitted that it was “unable to immediately confirm the source of the gunfire.”
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