Family of murdered Ukrainian journalist to file lawsuit against Fox News Channel
18 March 2024 18:52
The family of 24-year-old Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova, who died while filming reports on the war in Ukraine on 14 March 2022, has filed a lawsuit against the US TV channel Fox News. This is reported by Business Insider, Komersant ukrainskyi reports 
The lawsuit was filed in the New York State Supreme Court by Kuvshinova’s parents and Shane Thomson, a security adviser to the British security agency SEPAR, with which Fox News had a contract at the time.
The plaintiffs accuse the news agency of negligence, claiming that it brought a group of journalists hired by Fox News into an active war zone despite numerous warnings from local officials and a security consultant who advised them not to do so. The plaintiffs also accuse Fox News and other defendants, including Fox News foreign correspondent Benjamin Hall, of misrepresenting the circumstances of Kuvshynova’s death.
On the first anniversary of Kuvshynova’s death, Hall published a book titled Saved, which recounts his journey to the Ukrainian war zone. In the lawsuit, Kuvshynova’s family claims that the book contains false information about her death. Therefore, HarperCollins is also a defendant in the case.
Kuvshynova worked with Western journalists at the beginning of the full-scale war as a fixer, guide and translator. on 14 March 2022, she and Fox News representative Pierre Zakrzewski were killed by Russian artillery in the village of Horenka in the Kyiv region.
The plaintiffs claim that the Fox News crew repeatedly ignored warnings about the dangers in the war zone in Kyiv region. In particular, on the eve of Kuvshynova’s death, the mayor of Irpin, a nearby town, banned foreign journalists from entering the community after the death of American journalist and filmmaker Brent Reno on 13 March. The film crew’s security consultant, Shane Thomson, also “vetoed” the visit to the area.
The film crew came under Russian artillery fire on the main road to Kyiv on their way back. Of the three members of the film crew, only Benjamin Hall survived, and he published the book. The fate of the driver of the car has not been reported.
Fox News denies the allegations:
“While we understand the grief and continue to mourn the loss of Pierre Zakrzewski and Sasha Kuvshinova, we will respectfully defend against the inaccurate claims in this lawsuit. The safety of our journalists has always been our number one priority.”
