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Russia attacks Ukraine: Fox News journalist injured outside Kyiv

KYIV, Ukraine — Fox News reporter Benjamin Hall was hospitalized Monday after being injured while reporting outside the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

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“Earlier today, our correspondent Benjamin Hall was injured while newsgathering outside of Kyiv in Ukraine,” Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said in a prepared statement.

“We have a minimal level of details right now, but Ben is hospitalized, and our teams on the ground are working to gather additional information as the situation quickly unfolds,” she added.

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Hall, who had been deployed in recent weeks to cover Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has three young daughters, Fox News reported.

Hall’s wounding was first reported by Fox News anchor John Roberts.

Hall is a Washington-based correspondent who covers the U.S. State Department for Fox News, where he has worked since 2015.

According to Hall’s bio with Fox News, he has also reported from conflict zones in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza, The Washington Post reported.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price tweeted his support for Hall, whom he considers a colleague, offering the department’s aid wherever needed.

“I’m heartbroken by reports that my colleague, a State Department correspondent, was injured in Ukraine today,” Price wrote on Twitter, adding, “Our thoughts are with him, his family, and all of his colleagues, and we wish him a full recovery. We stand ready to assist in any way we can.”

Shaun Tandon, the president of the State Department Correspondents Association, issued the following statement, obtained by CNN, late Monday: “We are horrified to learn that our fellow correspondent Benjamin Hall was injured as he covered the Ukraine war.”

“We know Ben for his warmth, good humor and utmost professionalism. We wish Ben a quick recovery and call for utmost efforts to protect journalists who are providing an invaluable service through their coverage in Ukraine,” Tandon added.

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The reports of Hall’s wounding came after the Facebook page of Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Irina Venediktova, announced on Monday that a British journalist has been seriously injured in Ukraine and is currently in “intensive care under the supervision of doctors,” The Guardian reported.

Scott called Hall’s wounding a “stark reminder for all journalists who are putting their lives on the line every day to deliver the news from a war zone.”

Hall is believed to be the first American broadcast news correspondent injured while covering the war in Ukraine, and his wounding came one day after U.S. documentary filmmaker Brent Renaud was fatally shot while reporting outside Kyiv, the Post reported.

>> Related: Brent Renaud: What we know about US filmmaker, journalist killed in Ukraine

In a letter addressed to Renaud’s family in Arkansas and posted to his official Twitter account Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Renaud “a talented and brave journalist” who “lost his life while documenting human tragedy, devastation and suffering of the millions of Ukrainians.”

“With all his courage and determination, he traveled to the most dangerous war zones to film the unprecedented truthfulness and evil, also inflicted upon our nation by the aggressor state,” Zelenskyy added.

Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki expressed concern for Hall’s well-being.

“I know there’s no final reports, or we would wait for your news organization to confirm those, but our thoughts, the president’s thoughts, our administration’s thoughts are with him, his family and all of you at Fox News,” Psaki told a Fox News reporter during Monday’s news briefing.

When asked to provide “specific actions” that the administration would take in response to an attack on an American journalist, Psaki said U.S. President Joe Biden has led “the world in putting in place consequences, putting in place repercussions and steps in response to the actions of Russia, the brutal actions that have certainly impacted Ukrainian people and now have certainly impacted some Americans,” CNN reported.

“But in terms of next steps or what the next consequence would be, I don’t have anything to preview for you at this point in time,” Psaki added.