Brent Renaud, a filmmaker from the United States, was slain in Ukraine by Russian soldiers.

 Brent Renaud, an award-winning American filmmaker whose work has been featured in the New York Times and other publications, was slain by Russian soldiers in Irpin, a flashpoint town outside of Kyiv. Juan Arredondo, a photographer from the United States, was injured.

According to local police officials and several Ukrainian sources, Renaud, 51, was shot in the neck and died after coming under Russian fire while working on Sunday.

"Just left roadside area near Irpin where body of American journalist Brent Renaud lay under a blanket," Jane Ferguson, a reporter for PBS Newshour who was present when Renaud was killed, tweeted. By that point, Ukrainian medics were powerless to help him. 'Tell America, tell the world, what they did to a journalist,' an outraged Ukrainian police officer said.

Contrary to earlier claims, New York Times deputy managing editor Clifford Levy published a statement on Twitter explaining that Renaud was not on assignment for the publication.

"[The New York Times] is very grieved to learn of the death in Ukraine of Brent Renaud, an American journalist." Brent was a gifted photographer and filmmaker, but he wasn't in Ukraine on assignment for the New York Times. Because he was wearing a Times press credential he had received on an assignment many years ago, early reports that he worked for the Times surfaced.

"Brent's death is a tragic loss," Levy added. Brent and other brave journalists risk their lives to bear witness to the damage and suffering produced by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and to inform the world about it."

"The occupiers are shamelessly killing even journalists of international media who are trying to convey the truth about the atrocities committed by Russian troops in Ukraine," Kyiv region police commander Andrei Nebitov said in a statement.

Arredondo, a World Press Photo winner and adjunct lecturer at Columbia University, said he and Renaud went to Irpin to film people fleeing the town and were shot at by soldiers near a roadblock. While being treated in the hospital, he was filmed narrating what had happened. He claimed they had driven into an accident.

"In Irpin, we crossed the first bridge. We planned to videotape all of the refugees as they left. We boarded a vehicle... "Someone offered to drive us to the other bridge, and as we passed through a checkpoint, they began shooting at us," Arredondo explained. "So the driver turned around and they continued to shoot... and there were two of us." Brent Renaud is a buddy of mine who was shot and left behind."

When asked how Renaud was doing, Arredondo said, "I don't know." He'd been shot in the neck, I noticed. And then we were divided up."

"If an American journalist was slain, it is a stunning and horrifying tragedy," US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN. It's another another example of Vladimir Putin's soldiers' savagery, which has included attacks on schools, mosques, hospitals, and journalists.

"That is why we are working so hard to impose serious penalties on him, as well as to attempt to support the Ukrainians with whatever military assistance we can marshal, so that they can push back against the onslaught of Russian forces."