Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credits: 21:14 p.m., May 09, 2023

Arman Soldin, video coordinator for France News Agency in Ukraine, was killed Tuesday afternoon in a Grad rocket attack in eastern Ukraine. The journalist was accompanied by four colleagues, all of whom are unharmed. They were with Ukrainian servicemen when they were caught under the salvo of rockets.

The video coordinator of the France-Press Agency in Ukraine, Arman Soldin, was killed Tuesday afternoon in a Grad rocket attack in eastern Ukraine, according to AFP journalists accompanying him. The shelling took place around 16:30 local time (13:30 GMT) in the vicinity of Chasiv Iar, a Ukrainian town near Bakhmut, which is targeted daily by Russian forces.

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Arman Soldin, 32, was with four colleagues who are all unharmed. They were with Ukrainian servicemen when they were caught under the salvo of rockets. Arman's family has been informed.

A unanimous tribute to AFP

AFP journalists regularly visit the area to report on clashes in the region, the epicentre of fighting in Ukraine for several months. "The agency as a whole is collapsed," AFP CEO Fabrice Fries said. "His death is a terrible reminder of the risks and dangers journalists face on a daily basis while covering the conflict in Ukraine," he added.

AFP news director Phil Chetwynd praised the memory of a "courageous, creative and tenacious" journalist. "Arman's brilliant work summed up everything that makes us proud of AFP journalism in Ukraine," he added.

Video coordinator in Ukraine since September 2022

An experienced image journalist previously based in London, Arman Soldin was the video coordinator in Ukraine since September 2022 and regularly visited the front. He was also part of the AFP team that covered the early days of the Russian invasion. "Arman was enthusiastic, energetic, courageous. He was a real field reporter, always ready to leave even in the most difficult areas," said AFP Europe director Christine Buhagiar. "He was full of energy, that's how he defined himself on the networks. A total devotion to his profession as a journalist," she said.

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Recruited in Rome in 2015 as an intern before joining the London office the same year, Arman, a French and Bosnian national, was born in Sarajevo. He is at least the 11th reporter, fixer or driver of journalists to have been killed in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24, 2022, according to a tally by specialized NGOs RSF and CPJ.