France demanded an investigation on Monday after a French journalist was killed in Ukraine when the truck he was traveling in was damaged by shelling while evacuating residents near the city of Sievierodontsk.
Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff, 32, was the most recent journalist to have died since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, according to his employer. He was on his second reporting trip for the French television channel BFM in Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine stated that Leclerc-Imhoff was the 32nd journalist who lost his life since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24.
Zelenskiy expressed his condolences to Frederic's coworkers and family in his nightly video address.
Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff, 32, was the most recent journalist to have died since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, according to his employer. He was on his second reporting trip for the French television channel BFM in Ukraine.
The governor of Ukraine's Luhansk region, Serhiy Haidai, posted on the messaging service Telegram that a journalist was killed when shrapnel from a Russian round struck an armored vehicle.
A picture attachment depicted a truck that appeared to have been outfitted with armor.
He stated that the evacuation effort was paused following the strike.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not reply quickly to a request for comment. Moscow has denied repeatedly that its forces target Ukrainian civilians.
Colonna stated on Twitter that she had spoken with the governor of Luhansk and requested an investigation from Zelenskiy. Both had assured her of their assistance.
She stated, "It is a double offense to target a relief convoy and a journalist."
On Twitter, President Emmanuel Macron stated:
"Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff traveled to Ukraine to demonstrate the reality of the conflict. On a humanitarian bus filled with passengers fleeing Russian airstrikes, he was mortally wounded."
This is not the first time a journalist covering Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been assassinated.
Yevhenii Sakun, a Ukrainian camera operator, was reportedly killed early in March when the TV tower in Kiev was shelled.
Then, on March 13, according to Kyiv police, the award-winning American journalist Brent Renaud was slain by Russian soldiers in the Ukrainian city of Irpin. Juan Arredondo, another American journalist, was wounded.
The following day, Pierre Zakrzewski, a 55-year-old veteran war photojournalist for Fox News, and Oleksandra "Sasha" Kuvshynova, a 24-year-old Ukrainian journalist working as a consultant for the network, were shot outside Kiev.
