DIVIDED FRONTS

Lachlan Murdoch and Fox Reporter Benjamin Hall Meet With Zelensky in Ukraine

Fox News reporter Benjamin Hall interviewed Zelensky and was given a national award.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News reporter Benjamin Hall last weekend, marking the latter’s first visit to the country since losing limbs in a Russian missile attack.

Murdoch was invited by Zelensky, who said in a statement he wanted to emphasize to the Fox leader the continued need to spotlight the war. “For some reason, people treat it like a movie and expect that there will be no long pauses in the events, that the picture before their eyes will always change, that there will be some surprises every day,” Zelensky said. “But for us, for our warriors, this is not a movie. These are our lives. This is daily hard work. And it will not be over as quickly as we would like, but we have no right to give up and we will not.”

Accompanying Murdoch and Hall was Jerome Starkey, a war reporter with The Sun. Hall was awarded the Order of Merit, III class, by Zelensky and conducted an interview with him, which will air during Tuesday’s Special Report with Bret Baier.

The meeting came as Republicans in Congress have resisted further funding for Ukraine’s war effort, a reflection of growing animosity toward the war from conservatives—Fox News’s primary viewership.

Hall was traveling with Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova when Russian bombs missiles struck them as they traveled. The March 2022 attack killed Zakrezewsi and Kuvshynova, while Hall lost his right leg, both feet, and the ability to use his left eye, among other injuries.

“All this time, journalists, cameramen, editors, photographers, drivers have been on the frontline,” Zelensky said. “As this is a hybrid war, information is also a weapon in Russian hands. My sincere condolences to the families and friends of those very brave men and women who lost their lives trying to show what is happening in Ukraine. In particular, it is thanks to journalists from many countries that we now have such support in the world.”

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Corbin BoliesMedia Reporter

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