The parents of Oleksandra Kuvshynova, a 24-year-old producer and interpreter who died while covering the war in Ukraine for Fox News, are pursuing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the network and its star correspondent, Benjamin Hall. The family contends that the strike which killed Kuvshynova and three others was a preventable tragedy driven by Hall’s ambition and the network’s negligence.
Kuvshynova, known as Sasha, was among four people killed in the initial weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion when a Russian missile struck the vehicle carrying Hall’s team outside Kyiv. Hall, a dual British-U.S. citizen who survived with severe injuries including the loss of his right leg and part of his left foot, has been central to Fox News’ coverage of the conflict. Two years after the attack, he was honored on stage at the Hammerstein Ballroom during an advertiser event, where he spoke about the importance of bearing witness in dangerous zones.
“If you took Benji out of the equation, this never would have happened,” said Aaron King, a former high-risk security adviser for Fox News in Ukraine, speaking with NPR. King and another former security contractor, Shane Thomson, assert that Hall and the network ignored repeated, urgent warnings to avoid the specific danger zone where the strike occurred. Thomson has joined the Kuvshynovs’ lawsuit, alleging that Fox News scapegoated him for the incident.
Stephen Humphreys, the lawyer representing the Kuvshynovs and Thomson, stated in court documents that the danger was “very avoidable” and that the victims had been “specifically warned about, as to [the] exact time and place that they could not go.”
Fox News has not commented on the ongoing litigation. In a March 2024 statement released when the lawsuit was filed, the network expressed mourning for Kuvshynova and Pierre Zakrzewski, the beloved Fox war videographer who also died in the attack, but rejected the claims as inaccurate. “The safety of our journalists has always been our number one priority,” the statement read.
Kuvshynova’s parents, Andriy Kuvshynov and Iryna Mamaysur, told NPR they are speaking out to honor their daughter’s life and highlight what they view as injustice. In their first joint interview, they expressed their belief that Hall’s drive for stories contributed to the fatal decision to proceed despite security risks.
Hall himself has acknowledged in his memoir, Saved: A War Reporter’s Mission to Make It Home, a growing embrace of risk. Published a year after the attack, the book details how Hall, inspired by his father’s WWII experiences, chose to keep filming in Libya in 2011 even after narrowly escaping death. “I learned that I could control my fear, even bury it, and keep moving forward into danger,” Hall wrote.
The lawsuit is one of two multimillion-dollar legal actions filed against Fox News related to the deaths. NPR conducted 15 interviews and reviewed hundreds of pages of legal documents for this report. Fox News declined requests for interviews with officials or Hall, citing the pending litigation.
I remember reading about the Hammerstein Ballroom speech later. The disconnect is chilling.
RIP Sasha. She deserved better than to be collateral damage in someone else’s ambition.
Hall’s memoir admits he buries fear. That sounds like professional arrogance, plain and simple.
Does anyone actually believe ‘negligence’ is the right legal angle here? This is a war zone.
So the security team is now being blamed too? This feels like Fox is throwing everyone under the bus to save themselves.
My heart breaks for the Kuvshynova family. A 24-year-old shouldn’t have to die for ratings.