Oct 4, 2026 · 35 min
Fox’s Ukraine mission raises hard questions about newsroom safety
Fox News wanted war images in Ukraine - their journalists died
The reporting examines whether Fox News and its journalists made preventable decisions before an attack killed four people and severely injured Benjamin Hall.
- 1Repeated warnings preceded the team’s decision to leave Kyiv for areas security advisers considered exceptionally dangerous.
- 2The attack killed Pierre Zakrzewski, Sasha Kushnova, and two Ukrainian soldiers while severely injuring Benjamin Hall.
- 3The Kushnova family’s lawsuit seeks evidence about Fox’s safety decisions, internal communications, and responsibility for the mission.
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The reconstruction of the missile strike and the desperate rescue that followed makes the episode’s safety questions immediate.
The brief
NPR correspondent David Folkenflik reconstructs the 2022 attack on a Fox News team near Kyiv, where Benjamin Hall was gravely wounded and four others died.
The investigation traces Hall’s appetite for risk, Fox’s demand for dramatic battlefield images, and repeated warnings that travel beyond Kyiv offered little benefit relative to the danger.
Despite an explicit order to remain inside Kyiv, Hall, Pierre Zakrzewski, Sasha Kushnova, and a security adviser later set out toward nearby villages seeking footage.
A missile strike destroyed the vehicle, killing Zakrzewski, Kushnova, and two Ukrainian soldiers; Hall survived and was evacuated through a complex rescue operation.
The Kushnova family’s lawsuit, joined by security adviser Shane Thompson, seeks evidence about Fox’s decisions as the network faces difficult questions about accountability.
Hall’s return to Ukraine contrasts with the case’s unresolved questions, while Folkenflik closes on the principle that journalists must live to report another day.
David Folkenflik
Fox & Friends
Rupert MurdochBooks & mentions
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