Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, a French journalist working for BFM-TV, was killed in Ukraine on Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron officially announced it on his Twitter account, offering his condolences to the family. The Minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed that he had been killed “by a Russian bombardment” then demanded an investigation.
A French journalist was killed in Ukraine while covering the evacuation of the city of Sievierodonetsk, where Russian attacks have been concentrated for several days. Humanitarian convoys were scheduled for Monday to evacuate civilians to safety. The journalist was in one of these humanitarian buses.
According to Serhiy Haidaï, regional governor of Luhansk, the French reporter was mortally wounded in the explosion of a shell. “Today our armored evacuation vehicle was going to pick up 10 people from the area and came under enemy fire,” can we read in a press release published this Monday on the Telegram channel of the Ukrainian official. “Shrapper pierced the armor of the car, a fatal neck wound was received by an accredited French journalist who was reporting on the evacuation”.
Aged 32, Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff had worked for the French news channel BFM-TV for 6 years as an image reporter. This was his second mission to Ukraine.
In a statement posted on Twitterthe string voiced “his immense pain“Faced with the loss of their journalist: “Frédéric, image reporter was courageous and discreet. We are losing a colleague and a friend. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and @BranchtMaxime who accompanied him and who we spoke to”.
French head of state Emmanuel Macron sent his condolences to the young journalist’s family, after officially announcing his death on his Twitter page: “I share the pain of the family, relatives and colleagues of Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, to whom I send my condolences. To those who carry out the difficult mission of informing in the theaters of operations, I want to repeat the unconditional support of France”, he wrote.
The head of French diplomacy Catherine Colonna confirmed that the journalist was killed “by a Russian bombardment“. She then “demanded” “a transparent investigation as soon as possible to shed full light on the circumstances of this tragedy”.
At least 7 journalists killed since the start of the war
Since the start of the war in Ukraine on February 24, at least 8 foreign reporters have been killed and 11 have been injured, according to a count made by the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Several Ukrainian journalists are missing, while others, local or foreign, were deliberately attacked by Russian fire. In addition, attacks on local journalists have increased, as documented by the NGO on its website.
© Screenshot on the RSF website