PARIS—The Ukraine video coordinator of the French international news agency Agence France-Presse was killed Tuesday in a rocket strike in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
Arman Soldin, 32, was traveling with a team of AFP journalists when the group came under fire from Grad missiles, according to the agency. The remainder of the AFP team remained unharmed.
The late-afternoon strike took occurred near Chasiv Yar, a town near Bakhmut, according to the agency. Russian forces have been attempting to take Bakhmut for nine months, making it the focal point of the war's longest engagement.
“His death is a terrible reminder of the risks and dangers faced by journalists every day covering the conflict in Ukraine,” said AFP chairman Fabrice Fries.
According to AFP, Soldin was born in Sarajevo, now the capital of Bosnia, and is a French citizen. He landed in Ukraine to cover the war the day after the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, and has been to the front lines on a regular basis in recent months.
AFP said it was “devastated” at Soldin’s death and “all of our thoughts go out to his family and loved ones.”
In May 2022, French journalist Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff was assassinated near Severodonetsk in Ukraine while reporting for BFM-TV.
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least ten journalists have been killed while reporting the conflict in Ukraine.
RSF Director Christophe Deloire praised those covering the war on a daily basis and called Soldin's death "a tragedy for all those who defend the independence and reliability of information."
In a speech Tuesday night in Washington, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken conveyed condolences to Soldin's family and loved ones.
"Countless journalists are working to expose and report on the truth in extremely dangerous settings," Blinken remarked. "Today, we were devastated to learn of the death of AFP video journalist Arman Soldin in eastern Ukraine."
