Filmmaker Brent Renaud shot and killed in Ukraine while making refugee documentary

Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Brent Renaud was shot and killed by Russian forces Sunday in Ukraine, where the 50-year-old was working on a documentary about the global refugee crisis.

Renaud's vehicle was fatally hit by Russian fire at a checkpoint in Irpin, just outside the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, according to the Associated Press. The outlet reported that Renaud was traveling with American journalist Juan Arredondo when their car was shot by Russian forces; Renaud was reportedly shot in the neck, while Arredondo was hit in the lower back.

"We crossed the first bridge in Irpin, we were going to film other refugees leaving, and we got into a car, somebody offered to take us to the other bridge, we crossed the checkpoint, and they started shooting at us," Arredondo said in a video interview relayed to the Press by Italian journalist Annalisa Camilli.

Irpin mayor Oleksandr Markushyn later said that journalists would be denied entry to the city amid Russian attacks, while U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price condemned Russia's "indiscriminate" violence against all kinds of people amid Vladimir Putin's ongoing military assault on Ukraine, which has drawn near universal condemnation from nations around the world.

"We are horrified that journalists and filmmakers — noncombatants — have been killed and injured in Ukraine by Kremlin forces," Price wrote. "We extend condolences to all those affected by this horrific violence. This is yet another gruesome example of the Kremlin's indiscriminate actions."

In a statement obtained by EW, producing partners Michael Sugar and Ashley Zalta of Sugar23 also remembered Renaud for his commitment to traveling to dangerous corners of the world to research his subjects.

"We are saddened to learn of the loss of award-winning filmmaker and US journalist Brent Renaud. Brent was in the region working on a documentary with Sugar23, TIME Studios, and Day Zero Productions, focused on the global refugee crisis," they said. "Brent dedicated his life to seeking the truth and sharing humanistic portraits and narratives from those experiences in some of the most dangerous hot spots in the world. Our deepest sympathy is extended to all of Brent's loved ones."

Prior to his death, Renaud earned News & Documentary Emmy nominations for his work on HBO's Dope Sick Love (2005), which followed drug-addicted couples struggling to maintain their relationships, and Vice's Last Chance High (2014), which chronicled the staff of Chicago's Moses Montefiore Academy as they attempted to change the lives of at-risk students. He also scored a Directors Guild of America Award nomination for directing the 2005 documentary Off to War, about members of the Arkansas National Guard who shaped up to join the army during the Iraq War.

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