AFP Journalist killed in Ukraine

Arman Soldin, a French journalist working for the AFP news agency, has been killed while reporting from the war zone in eastern Ukraine.

The 32-year-old man died on Tuesday after being hit by rocket fire near Bakhmut, reports BBC.

The attack happened at around 4:30pm (local time). The AFP team that Soldin was with came under fire by Grad Rockets while they were with a group of Ukrainian soldiers. Soldin was the only one among the team to die – the others remained uninjured.

Soldin was AFP's Ukraine video coordinator. He was part of the new agency's first team to go to Ukraine following Russia's invasion of the country.

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Soldin's work on the front lines of the war.

"The whole agency is devastated by the loss of Arman," AFP Chairman Fabrice Fries said.

Ukraine's defence ministry, as well as the White House also paid tribute to the fallen journalist.

Soldin, who was born in Bosnia, is the 15th journalist to be killed while reporting on the war in Ukraine since February 2022, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.