American journalist Brent Renaud shot and killed by Russian forces in Ukraine

> A spokeswoman for the Times said Renaud was "a talented filmmaker who had contributed to The New York Times over the years," most recently in 2015, but he "was not on assignment for any desk at The Times in Ukraine."

Calling BS on two points

a/ journalist - NYT disavowed him, looks like he NOC'ed in Ukraine.

UPDATE: It's the Time now apparently. Doesn't make it more believable, I'm afraid - lots of cloak'n'dagger folks out there risking their lives.

b/ russian - this is more plausible due to a/ Still murky, though.