News agency AFP’s Ukraine video coordinator Arman Soldin killed by rocket fire in eastern Ukraine

Arman Soldin, the video coordinator for the news agency AFP in Ukraine, was killed on May 9th by rocket fire near Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine. The attack occurred around 4:30 pm on the outskirts of the town near Bakhmut, while Soldin and a group of Ukrainian soldiers were being filmed by the AFP team. Soldin, a 32-year-old French national, was hit by a rocket and died instantly, while the rest of the team escaped unharmed.

Soldin started his career with AFP as an intern in the Rome bureau in 2015, later moving to London, and then being sent to Ukraine as part of the news agency’s first team after the beginning of the Russian offensive in February 2022. He had been living in Ukraine since September, leading the team’s video coverage and regularly traveling to the front lines in the east and south.

Tributes poured in from around the world for Soldin, with AFP Chairman Fabrice Fries calling his death a “terrible reminder of the risks and dangers faced by journalists every day covering the conflict in Ukraine.” French President Emmanuel Macron also hailed Soldin’s bravery, saying he was “at the front to establish the facts” and to inform the world. Ukraine’s Defence Ministry paid tribute to Soldin, stating that he dedicated his life to informing the world about the truth.

Soldin’s colleagues remembered him as a brilliant storyteller who knew how to recount the lives of ordinary people caught up in war-torn Ukraine, desperately trying to survive amid the chaos. According to Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, his death brings the total number of journalists, fixers, and drivers for media teams killed covering the war to 11.

Soldin’s death is a reminder of the risks journalists take to bring important stories to the world. It is a tragedy that a young and talented journalist like Soldin was taken from us, and his legacy will continue to live on through the work he did to inform the world about the truth. The world owes a debt of gratitude to all journalists who risk their lives to tell important stories, and we must do everything we can to protect them.