French journalist killed by rocket fire in eastern Ukraine

A video journalist for the French news agency AFP, Arman Soldin, was on Tuesday killed by rocket fire in eastern Ukraine, his colleagues have said.

The 32-year-old died in a Grad rocket strike near Chassiv Iar, a town near Bakhmout that is targeted daily by Russian forces. He was with four colleagues who are all unharmed.

The team was with Ukrainian soldiers when they were taken under the salvo of rockets around 4.30pm local time.

AFP journalists travel regularly to this area to report on clashes in the region, the epicentre of fighting in Ukraine for several months.

'Reminder of dangers'

"His death is a terrible reminder of the risks and dangers faced by journalists on a daily basis when covering the conflict in Ukraine," said the agency's CEO, Fabrice Fries.

Phil Chetwynd, AFP news director, hailed the memory of a "brave, creative and tenacious" journalist.

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"Arman's brilliant work summed up everything that makes us proud of AFP journalism in Ukraine," he said.

Recruited in Rome in 2015 as an intern before joining the London office the same year, Soldin was born in Sarajevo and has French nationality.

He is at least the 11th reporter, fixer or driver of journalists to have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.