Slain Rust cinematographer's family said to be trapped in Ukraine

LOS ANGELES - Mr Matt Hutchins, the widower of slain cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, says that his late wife's family are "trapped" in Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.

American media reported that Mr Hutchins told his followers on his private Twitter account earlier this month: "Ukrainian refugees need humanitarian corridors. Halyna's family is trapped in Kyiv because of the danger of travel.

"Her mother continues to work in the hospital where she has been a nurse for over a decade because her country needs her, but also because they cannot leave safely."

However, tabloid TMZ reported that MsHutchins' sister and three-year-old niece were able to reach the Romanian border, though it is unclear if they were able to be evacuated.

Ms Hutchins, 42, was born as Halyna Androsovych in Soviet Ukraine. She retained her Ukrainian citizenship even after moving to Los Angeles to pursue a film-making career.

She was killed in October 2021 on the New Mexico set of the Alec Baldwin film Rust. A revolver that the actor was rehearsing with discharged a live round that hit Ms Hutchins.

The film's director, Joel Souza, was also hit, but he survived.

Mr Hutchins has a filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin and other people involved in the troubled production.

"The idea that the person holding the gun causing it to discharge is not responsible, is absurd to me," he said in a previous statement quoted by Reuters in February.

A report by The New York Times on March 12 indicates that Baldwin is looking to avoid liability for the fatal incident, with his lawyers claiming that his contract protected him from financial responsibility in Ms Hutchins' death.