The news agency video coordinator AFP in Ukraine, Arman Soldindied this Tuesday in a rocket attack nearly Tchassiv Iarin the east of the country.
The bombardment occurred around 4:30 p.m., local time, on the outskirts of that town near Bakhmuta target of daily fire from Russian forces.
Arman Soldin, 32, was with four colleagues, who escaped unharmed from the attack. The team was accompanied by the Ukrainian military when they were surprised by the shelling of grad rockets
“The agency as a whole is shocked.”declared the president of the AFP, Fabrice Fries.
Arman’s death “is a terrible reminder of the risks and dangers that journalists face on a daily basis.” that cover the conflict in Ukraine,” he added.
The Information Director of the AFP, Phil Chetwynd, He highlighted the work of a “brave, creative and tenacious” reporter.
“Arman’s brilliant work summed up everything that makes us proud of journalism at the AFP in Ukraine”, he added.
Arman Soldinan experienced cameraman journalist, who was a correspondent in London, was a video coordinator in Ukraine since September 2022 and regularly went to the front line.
He also joined the team of AFP which covered the early days of the Russian invasion.
“Arman was enthusiastic, energetic, brave. He was a true reporter, always ready to go, even to the most difficult areas.”, said the director of the Europe region of the AFP, Christine Buhagiar.
“He overflowed with energy, and that is how he defined himself in the networks. He had total devotion to his job as a journalist, ”he stressed.
Arman Soldin, a French national and born in Sarajevo (Bosnia), joined the AFP in 2015 in Rome and was posted to London that same year.
He is the eleventh reporter, guide or driver of journalists killed in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022according to a registry of specialized NGOs RSF and CPJ.
The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, He assured in Washington that his government was “devastated” after learning of the death of journalist Arman Soldin.
“Countless journalists are working to expose and report the truth in extremely dangerous contexts. (…) our thoughts are with his family (from Soldin), his loved ones” and the agency AFPBlinken said at an event celebrating the organization’s awards ceremony. Freedom House.
The diplomat also took the opportunity to accuse the Russian government of promoting disinformation about the war in Ukraine.
The government of Vladimir PutinBlinken noted, disseminates fake news to “cover up the terrible abuses it commits” in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre expressed that “The world owes a debt to Arman” Soldin.
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, greeted the “courage” of the journalist from the AFP Arman Soldin, and said that He shares “the pain of his family and all his colleagues.”
“Agence France-Presse journalist, one of our compatriots, Arman Soldin, died in Ukraine. full of courage, from the first hours of the conflict he was at the front to show the facts. To inform us,” Macron wrote on Twitter.
His “tragic death”, when “he was covering the war in Ukraine, reminds us of the courage of all journalists who commit themselves to inform us at the risk of their lives”, said the French Prime Minister. Elisabeth Borne.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry offered its “sincere condolences” after Soldin’s death.
“We offer our sincere condolences to his family and colleagues”, the ministry wrote on Twitter, adding that he “he devoted his life to showing the truth to the world”.
(With information from AFP)
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