New Delhi: Thirty two journalists have been killed since Russia’s invasion of his country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday while condoling the latest death.
French journalist Frederic Leclerc-Imhof was killed on Monday in an armoured vehicle while covering an evacuation operation out of Sievierodonetsk – a key city in the Donbas that has seen intense fighting in the last few days.
He was fatally hit by shrapnel, said BFM TV, the French news broadcaster he worked for.
Paying his condolences to the journalist’s family in his nightly address on Monday, Zelenskky remarked that Lecrerc-Imhoff was the 32nd journalist killed in the war. “The situation remains very hard,” the Ukrainian President said.
⚡️32 journalists killed in Ukraine since Feb. 24.
At least eight journalists have been killed while reporting on Russia’s war in Ukraine since Feb. 24, while the total death toll has reached 32 people, according to Ukraine’s Institute of Mass Information.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 31, 2022
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: “Journalist, Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff was in Ukraine to show the reality of the war. On board a humanitarian bus, alongside civilians forced to flee to escape the Russian bombs, he was fatally shot.”
Journaliste, Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff était en Ukraine pour montrer la réalité de la guerre. À bord d’un bus humanitaire, aux côtés de civils contraints de fuir pour échapper aux bombes russes, il a été mortellement touché.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 30, 2022
Macron also said he shared the pain of the family, relatives and colleagues of Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff. Sending his condolences, Macron reiterated France’s “unconditional support” to those “who carry out the difficult mission of informing in theaters of operations”.
France’s Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said Leclerc-Imhoff was killed by Russian bombardment on a humanitarian operation while he was “exercising his duty to inform”.
Je suis profondément attristée & choquée par la mort de notre compatriote Frédéric Leclerc Imhoff, tué par un bombardement russe sur une opération humanitaire alors qu'il exerçait son devoir d'informer. Toutes mes pensées vont à sa famille, à ses collègues et aux journalistes.
— Catherine Colonna (@MinColonna) May 30, 2022
Earlier Monday, Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai took to Telegram to announce the journalist’s death. He said Russian forces fired on an armored vehicle that was traveling to pick up people for evacuation.
“Shrapnel from the grenades pierced the armor of the car … a fatal wound in the neck was received by an accredited French journalist who was making a report on the evacuation. A police officer (at the scene) was saved by his helmet,” Haidai wrote.
Leclerc-Imhoff was inside the vehicle, while his team was outside.
The evacuation was suspended, Haidai said.
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