Bret Baier reflects on the importance, cost of war journalism as Russia’s war on Ukraine enters another year

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Fox News chief political anchor and executive editor of “Special Report” Bret Baier reflected on the cost of war journalism, praising the journalists, producers and camera crews he has worked with over the two years of Ukraine coverage while remembering those the team lost. 

“Covering war is a tough thing. Logistically, it’s very difficult,” Baier said as he finished off a series of exclusive interviews near the front lines with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for “Special Report.”

“We’ve had scores and scores of staff members, photographers, engineers come through here in Kyiv, in Lviv and Warsaw, covering this over the past two years,” Baier said. 

Baier paid homage to the nearly dozen correspondents and reporters who went out to the field to cover the war and helped Americans see the true devastation of Russia’s unprovoked attack: Trey Yingst, Lucas Tomlinson, Mike Tobin, Jeff Paul, Greg Palkot, Alexis McAdams, Amy Kellogg, Griff Jenkins, Jonathan Hunt, Alex Hogan, Aishah Hasnie, Steve Harrigan, Jennifer Griffin, Nate Foy, Matt Finn and Benjamin Hall. 

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Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier with his crew from “Special Report” in Ukraine after filming an exclusive interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (Fox News)

Hall in particular gave Baier a moment to pause and recall the toll that war journalism can often take. Hall and his team came under fire while traversing Ukraine between conflict zones, which killed beloved Fox News photojournalist Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova. 

Hall suffered catastrophic injuries, requiring 30 surgeries that ultimately could not save one of his legs on one side and his foot on the other, as well as the loss of function of a hand and one eye. 

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A vehicle carrying Pierre Zakrzewski, left, Benjamin Hall and Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova was struck by incoming fire when they were covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Hall was the only survivor. (Fox News)

Hall has recounted the harrowing experience, both in his book “Saved: A War Reporter’s Mission to Make it Home” and on Fox News programs such as “Fox & Friends.” 

“It was like everything I was trying to do was to get home, get back to my family,” Hall said of his experiences, and he has returned to the field to report on Ukraine once again. 

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Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was denied an appeal last week as he continued to be wrongly detained by Russia while facing espionage charges that the paper vehemently blasted as “categorically false.” (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images)

Baier also used his moment of reflection to once more draw attention to the plight of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who remains in Russian custody until at least Mar. 30 after a Russian court rejected his latest appeal. 

“Journalism is not a crime,” U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy said in a statement Wednesday after visiting Gershkovich at the prison. “We condemn the Kremlin’s continued repression of independent voices in Russia, and its ongoing attempts to corrupt the truth.”

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“The charges against Evan are baseless, and we call on the Russian Federation to immediately release him,” the ambassador said.

Baier capped off his reflections by noting that “covering war is tough, but we will continue to: Fair, balanced and unafraid.” 

Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace and Brian Flood contributed to this report.