The French video journalist Arman Soldin was killed in a rocket attack in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday. He had been covering the war for the AFP News Agency.
The 32-year-old was on a battlefield near the city of Bahkmut, accompanied by four other journalists and Ukrainian soldiers. The attack occurred at around 16:30 (local time), and Soldin’s colleagues were unharmed.
AFP’s Global News Director Phil Chetwynd paid tribute to Soldin, describing him as a "courageous, creative and persistent" journalist. AFP’s CEO Fabrice Fries stated that “the agency has been shaken to its core” following Soldin’s death, which "is a terrible reminder of the risks and dangers faced by journalists every day covering the conflict in Ukraine."
French President Emmanuel Macron also offered his condolences to the journalist’s family and loved ones, adding on Twitter that “from the first hours of the conflict he was at the front to establish the facts, to inform us,”
France’s National Assembly held a round of applause in tribute to Soldin on Tuesday evening.
The Frenchman was an experienced video journalist, having previously lived in London while covering English football for the French channel Canal +.
He had been working as a video coordinator for AFP and had been in Ukraine since September of last year. A video of him saving a baby hedgehog from a battlefield went viral on social media earlier this year.
