Photojournalist’s Widow Sues Fox News Over His Death While Shooting in Ukraine

A veteran cameraman’s widow has filed a wrongful death and breach of contract lawsuit against Fox News over his death while he was reporting on the war in Ukraine.

Pierre Zakrzewski, a longtime war photojournalist and cameraman for Fox News, was killed while he was covering the Ukraine in March 2022.

55-year-old cameraman Zakrzewski was killed alongside 24-year-old Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynovaa when the team’s vehicle came under fire while they were reporting in Horenka, Kyiv. Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall was also seriously injured during the attack.

According to a report by The Washington Post, Zakrzewski’s widow Michelle Ross-Stanton is seeking more than $11 million in compensation from Fox News over the photojournalist’s death.

In a lawsuit filed against Fox in the U.K., Ross-Stanton argues that the network did not adequately protect her husband and did not hold the necessary insurance to be able to fully compensate his family after his death.

The Washington Post reports that Ross-Stanton has long questioned the circumstances surrounding her late husband’s death and eventually launched her own investigation. Her main concern is why the team’s security consultant did not remain with Zakrzewski and the other journalists while they reported in a dangerous war zone in Ukraine.

She has requested that Fox News provide evidence showing whether a company official approved her husband’s reporting trip that day. According to Ross-Stanton, just a day before Zakrzewski’s death, American journalist Brent Renaud was killed in the nearby town of Irpin, prompting the mayor to advise journalists to stay away from the area.

Ross-Stanton’s lawsuit also claims the Fox News team was driving an unarmored vehicle when the shelling occurred, despite the significant risks near Russian forces. Additionally, the suit alleges the journalists lacked geo-tracking equipment that could have improved the chances of rescuing her husband in time.

Zakrzewski, a seasoned war photojournalist, was under the impression that Fox “had high-limit insurance in place to cover serious injury or death while he was reporting from high-risk conflicts for Fox News,” according to the suit. Ross-Stanton argues that if the proper policy had been in place, her family would have received a significant insurance payment.

Kuvshynova’s family has also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Fox News for the journalist’s death, accusing the network of a cover-up.

In a statement released after the lawsuit was filed, Fox News says it did “everything humanly possible” in the aftermath of the tragedy.

“We remain devastated by the death of Pierre Zakrzewski,” Fox News writes. “His extraordinary dedication to telling the stories of the war in Ukraine placed a critical spotlight on the atrocities there and we are forever grateful for his commitment to journalism and his ultimate sacrifice. We did everything humanly possible in the aftermath of this unprecedented tragedy amid the chaos of a war zone.”