LAST UPDATE | 10 May 2023
TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid after a 32-year-old journalist working for the French international news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) was killed during a rocket attack near the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
The news agency said video co-ordinator Arman Soldin was with a team of its journalists travelling with Ukrainian soldiers when the group came under rocket fire. The rest of the AFP team was uninjured.
The attack took place in the late afternoon in the vicinity of Chasiv Yar, a town near Bakhmut, the agency said.
Russian forces have been trying to capture the city for nine months, making Bakhmut the focus of the war’s longest battle.
“His death is a terrible reminder of the risks and dangers faced by journalists every day covering the conflict in Ukraine,” AFP chairman Fabrice Fries said.
The killing of @AFP video reporter Arman Soldin in Ukraine is a stark reminder of the risks of covering the news.
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 10, 2023
Here are the Agence France-Presse journalists and staff killed while on mission or in attacks since the news agency's creation in 1944: https://t.co/IeAFC4LgPg pic.twitter.com/9AY1k2QVp8
Soldin was born in Sarajevo, now the capital of Bosnia, and was also a French citizen, according to AFP.
He arrived in Ukraine to cover the war the day after the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022 and had travelled regularly to the front lines in recent months.
AFP said it was “devastated” at Soldin’s death, adding “all of our thoughts go out to his family and loved ones”.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna today paid tribute to Soldin’s “courage” and described his work as “essential” to understanding the facts around the war in Ukraine.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said ”Arman was a talented and courageous journalist and his death is obviously devastating for those who knew him”.
“Journalism continues to shine a light in the darkness of this war, and Arman’s work was vital to that,” he said.
Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko blamed Russia for Soldin’s death and said those responsible must be held accountable.
“Our condolences to Arman’s family and friends, and gratitude for his courage,” he said in a post on social media.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk region where Bakhmut lies and which has been partially controlled by Kremlin-backed forces for years, offered his condolences to Soldin’s friends and family.
“I thank everyone who – risking their own lives – continues to tell the truth about our war,” he said.
The Bosnian member of the country’s tripartite presidency, Denis Becirovic, condemned Soldin’s killing, describing his death as a “great loss” and a “painful reminder” of the risks undertaken by frontline journalists.
“At the cost of his own safety, he had been travelling to the front lines since day one, doing his job as a journalist, establishing the facts and showing images of the destruction and suffering in Ukraine,” Becirovic said.
The Director General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, denounced Soldin’s killing and urged parties of the conflict to adhere to international law.
“I condemn the attack that killed video journalist Arman Soldin and call for an investigation to identify the circumstances of his death,” she said.
And in Washington, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the world was “indebted” to the journalists who lost their lives covering the conflict.
In May 2022, French journalist Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff, who was working in Ukraine for BFM-TV, was killed near Severodonetsk in the east.
At least 10 media workers have been killed while covering the war in Ukraine, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists.
RSF director Christophe Deloire praised the daily courage of those covering the war and called Soldin’s death “a tragedy of all those who defend the independence and reliability of information”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a speech in Washington yesterday, expressed his condolences to Soldin’s family and loved ones.
“Countless journalists are working to expose and report on the truth in extremely dangerous settings,” Blinken said.
“Today, we were devastated to learn of the death of AFP video journalist Arman Soldin in eastern Ukraine.”
Includes reporting by Press Association and – © AFP 2023
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