NPR is reporting that the families of two journalists killed in Ukraine are blaming Fox News and correspondent Benjamin Hall for putting their crew in danger shortly after the 2022 Russian invasion. It said Hall survived a strike that killed veteran videographer Pierre Zakrzewski and 24-year-old Ukrainian producer Sasha Kuvshynova, along with two soldiers escorting them. Hall lost his right leg below the knee, most of his left foot and an eye.
NPR said Kuvshynova's parents and two former security advisers to the network fault Hall and Fox for sending the crew into a hot zone just outside Kyiv despite repeated warnings. One former security consultant, Aaron King, told NPR that the incident would not have happened if Hall had not been involved. NPR said Kuvshynova's parents are suing Fox in New York City, while Zakrzewski's widow is suing the network in London, with both lawsuits accusing Fox of failing to keep their loved ones safe. Kuvshynova's parents also say Fox hid its own role in her death and then persuaded her father to sign a compensation package that included a waiver of liability.
NPR said Fox and Hall declined to comment for the story but are fighting the allegations in court, arguing in legal papers and statements that the deaths were tragic but impossible to predict. NPR said it reviewed hundreds of pages of court documents, conducted 15 on-the-record interviews and watched hours of Fox's coverage. It said Hall wrote in his memoir about taking increasing risks as his career and ambitions grew, and that he could not pass up the chance to go to Kyiv.
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