Taras Protsyuk ( uk, Тарас Процюк; January 16, 1968 – April 8, 2003) was a Ukrainian TV cameraman working for

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

, who was killed during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Biography

Born in Ivano-Frankivsk (

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

), Protsyuk was based and lived in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

(

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

) since 1999 and worked as a cameraman for Reuters since 1993. During his career he covered the conflicts in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, Bosnia, Chechnya,

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

and made news reports about Poland. Protsyuk was in line to gain

Polish citizenship Polish nationality law is based primarily on the principle of jus sanguinis. Children born to at least one Polish parent acquire Polish citizenship irrespective of place of birth. Besides other things, Polish citizenship entitles the person to ...

.TARAS PROTSYUK: REPORTER IN A FLOATING WORLD
by Inessa Kim, ArtUkraine.com (17 April 2003) Protsyuk is survived by his wife and an eight-year-old son, the family had moved from

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

to Warsaw in 1999.

Death

Protsyuk died on April 8, 2003 ( April 8, 2003 journalist deaths by U.S. fire). Protsyuk was filming from a balcony of the

Palestine Hotel The Palestine Hotel (Arabic: فندق فلسطين), often referred to simply as ''The Palestine'', is an 18-story hotel in Baghdad, Iraq located on Firdos Square near from Saadon, across from the Ishtar Hotel. It has long been favoured by journ ...

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

, where most of the foreign journalists were staying, when a

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

fired by a U.S. M1 Abrams

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...

killed him and José Couso, a cameraman for the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

television station Telecinco. The U.S. soldier commanding the tank was Sgt. Shawn Gibson of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division. On the same day, a total of three locations in Baghdad housing journalists were fired upon by U.S. armed forces, killing three journalists and wounding four. There were conflicting reports about the nature of the shelling that killed Protsyuk. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, U.S. military officials claimed one of their tanks had fired on the hotel in response to incoming sniper and rocket fire. However, journalists in the hotel at the time of the shelling, claimed to have heard no fire coming from the hotel. Moreover, the accidental nature of the incident was subject to further questioning when a former

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

official revealed in 2008 that the Palestine Hotel had been listed as a military target prior to the 2003 incident.

Remembrance

Hundreds, including politicians and public figures, attended his funeral in

on April 13,Taras Protsyuk, 35

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

(2 June 2003) and the

Ukrainian parliament The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

observed a minute of silence in his memory. On April 8 the

United States Embassy The United States has the second most diplomatic missions of any country in the world after Mainland China, including 166 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, as well as observer state Vatican City and non-member countries Kosovo a ...

is annually picketed in his memory.Ukraine 'disappointed' with U.S. over refusal to pay compensation

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine, founded in October 1995 by Jed Sunden. History American Jed Sunden founded the ''Kyiv Post'' weekly newspaper on Oct. 18, 1995 and later created KP Media for his holdings. ...

(22 April 2004)Events by themes: Picketing of the United States Embassy in Kyiv

UNIAN The UNIAN or Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News ( uk, Українське Незалежне Інформаційне Агентство Новин, УНІАН, translit=Ukrayins'ke Nezalezhne Informatsiyne Ahentstvo Novyn) is a ...

-photo service (8 April 2009)

References

External links

Account of events on day Protsyuk was killed

Taras Protsyuk captured some of this region's worst moments

Spanish court absolves U.S. of criminal responsibility in Protsyuk's death
- IFEX
Five-year anniversary photo-memorial from Reuters
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Protsyuk, Taras 1968 births 2003 deaths Ukrainian television journalists Journalists killed while covering the Iraq War Reuters people Polish people of Ukrainian descent People from Ivano-Frankivsk Burials at Baikove Cemetery