A FOX NEWS journalist who survived an attack in Ukraine has described the “infectious joy” of Pierre Zakrzewski, the team’s Irish cameraman who was killed by the strike.
Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall has paid tribute to his late colleagues who were killed in Ukraine while reporting on the war.
The British journalist said he felt “damn lucky” to have survived a shelling attack by Russian forces as he shared updates on his injuries.
The team was reporting for US network Fox News in Horenka on the outskirts of Kyiv when their vehicle was hit by Russian shelling on 14 March.
Cameraman Zakrzewski and Ukrainian producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova were both killed in the incident.
“It’s been over three weeks since the attack in Ukraine and I wanted to start sharing it all. But first I need to pay tribute to my colleagues Pierre and Sasha who didn’t make it that day,” Hall wrote on Twitter.
“Pierre and I travelled the world together, working was his joy and his joy was infectious. RIP.”
He wrote: “To sum it up, I’ve lost half a leg on one side and a foot on the other.”
“One hand is being put together, one eye is no longer working, and my hearing is pretty blown… but all in all I feel pretty damn lucky to be here – and it is the people who got me here who are amazing.”
A funeral service for Pierre Zakrzewski was held in Foxrock, Dublin on 29 March, where he was remembered as a “truth teller” who was full of energy and passion for presenting people’s stories to the world.
Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, the aide-de-camps of President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Micheál Martin and representatives from the embassies of the United States, Ukraine, Poland and France all attended his funeral.
He was the second-eldest of six children. His family lived in Leopardstown, Co Dublin and he attended St Conleth’s College in Ballsbridge.
His brother Stas said he “taught us to think outside the boundaries and that nothing is impossible”.
“We all love you Pierre and your spirit will live within us all.”
Several other journalists, including Brent Renaud, an American documentary film-maker and another veteran of war zones, have also been killed in Ukraine since the war began in February.
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