French journalist reporting on war horrors in Ukraine killed in rocket attack

A French journalist who had been reporting on war horrors in Ukraine shortly after Russia invaded was killed in a rocket attack on the 9th (local time). This brings the number of journalists killed in the war in Ukraine to at least 11.

AFP reported on the same day that its video reporter Armand Soldin (32) was killed after being hit by a rocket launcher near Bakhmut, a fierce battleground in eastern Ukraine. At the time, an AFP reporter was with Ukrainian forces and was exposed to a Grad rocket attack at around 4:30 p.m. Grad is a multiple rocket launcher developed in the former Soviet Union. No other reporters were hurt in the attack, AFP said.

Journalist Soldaeng went to Ukraine the day after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year and reported on the horrors of the war. After that, he continued to cover the battlefield in Ukraine, and since September of last year, he lived in Ukraine and worked as a video reporter. Wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest, he personally covered the frontline battlegrounds in the East and South, and also reported the reality of having to meet online between a son who was on the road to evacuation and a father who was conscripted.

Reporter Soldain is a French national born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and started working for AFP in Rome, Italy in 2015, and worked in London, England, etc.

“The death of journalist Soldaeng is a terrible reminder of the dangers and adventures that journalists covering the war in Ukraine face every day,” AFP President Fabrice Fris said.

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: “He never lost his courage and found the truth to tell us on the front lines from the very beginning of the war.” In a speech in Washington on the 9th, US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln said, “Many journalists are struggling to expose and report the truth in an extremely dangerous environment. I was very shocked to hear the news of reporter Soldaeng’s death today.”

According to Reporters Without Borders, more than 10 journalists have died while covering the war in Ukraine. Reporters Without Borders commemorated Soldaeng’s death as “a tragedy for all those who defend the independence and reliability of information.”