Director of photography Halyna Hutchins, 42, who died from a prop gun misfire on the Bonanza Creek Ranch set of the Alec Baldwin Western, Rust, was born and raised in the Soviet Union, according to the personal website of the deceased woman.
"Originally from Ukraine, Halyna grew up on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle surrounded by reindeer and nuclear submarines," reads the biographical section of the site.
The woman had a graduate degree in International Journalism from Kyiv National University in Ukraine. After her studies, she went on to collaborate with British documentary filmmakers as an investigative journalist.
In recent years, Hutchins has lived in Los Angeles. Her work as a cinematographer includes Darling (2019), Nemesis (2020) and Blindfire (2020).
The incident occurred on a film set in New Mexico; Baldwin fired a pistol that was supposed to be loaded with blank cartridges. The director of the film was wounded in the collarbone and remains in emergency care, Hutchins was seriously injured and was airlifted to a hospital in Albuquerque. Doctors were unable to save her life.