French AFP journalist killed in strike in eastern Ukraine

Arman Soldin was part of the AFP team that covered the very first days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here in March 2022. AFP - ARIS MESSINIS

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The video coordinator of the France-Press Agency in Ukraine, Arman Soldin, was killed on Tuesday afternoon during a Grad rocket attack in the vicinity of Chasiv Iar, a Ukrainian town near Bakhmut.

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Arman Soldin, 32, and four other journalists were with Ukrainian servicemen when they were caught in a salvo of rockets. The strike killed the video coordinator of the France-Press Agency in Ukraine. His four colleagues are all unharmed.

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The Agency as a whole is collapsed " said Fabrice Fries, AFP's CEO. "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. Phil Chetwynd, news director of the news agency, praised the memory of a journalist who was "courageous, creative and tenacious". "Arman's brilliant work summed up everything that makes us proud of AFP journalism in Ukraine," he continued.

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 go, 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.

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.

(

With AFP)

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