AFP journalist born in Sarajevo, Arman Soldin, killed in eastern Ukraine

(Patria) - AFP's video coordinator for Ukraine, Arman Soldin, was killed on Tuesday in shelling near Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine, AFP journalists who witnessed the incident said. The attack occurred around 4:30 PM on the outskirts of the town near Bakhmut, the epicenter of fighting in eastern Ukraine for several months, AFP reported.

An AFP team was under rocket fire while with a group of Ukrainian soldiers. Soldin (32) died when a rocket fell near where he was lying. The rest of the team remained unharmed.

The entire agency is devastated by the loss of Arman,” said AFP President Fabrice Fries.

"His death is a terrible reminder of the risks and dangers faced daily by journalists covering the conflict in Ukraine," he added.

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Soldin on Twitter, praising his “courage”.

“With courage, from the first hours of the conflict, he was on the front lines to establish the facts. To inform us,” Macron wrote, saying he shared the “pain of his relatives and all his colleagues”.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense expressed its “sincere condolences” to his family and colleagues.

“He dedicated his life to informing the world of the truth. His legacy, like his cause, will live on,” it stated.

In Washington, the White House also paid tribute to Soldin, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying the world “owes” journalists who lost their lives reporting on the conflict.

“Journalism is fundamental to a free society,” she said in a statement.

“Arman’s brilliant work embodied everything that made us so proud of AFP’s journalism in Ukraine,” said AFP Global News Director Phil Chetwynd.

AFP Europe Director Christine Buhagiar remembered Soldin as “a true reporter on the ground, always ready to work even in the most difficult places”, she said.

“He was completely dedicated to his craft,” she added.

Born in Sarajevo, Soldin was a French national who began working for AFP as an intern in its Rome office in 2015, and was later employed in London. He was part of the first AFP team sent to Ukraine after the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, arriving the next day. Soldin had been living in Ukraine since September, leading the team's video reporting and regularly traveling to the front lines in the east and south.

His death means at least 11 journalists or fixers and media team drivers have been killed reporting on the war in Ukraine, according to media advocacy groups Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).