Tributes are pouring in following the death of Arman Soldin near Bakhmout. In France, Emmanuel Macron hailed the “courage” of the AFP journalist killed on Tuesday during a rocket attack in eastern Ukraine, claiming to share “the pain of his relatives and all his colleagues”. “With courage, from the first hours of the conflict he was at the front to establish the facts. To inform us, ”wrote the head of state on Twitter.
His “tragic death”, “while he was covering the war in Ukraine, reminds us of the courage of all journalists who undertake to inform us at the risk of their lives”, also reacted Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. In the National Assembly, deputies from all groups rose on Tuesday evening to applaud in tribute to the journalist.
The French political class, from all sides, has expressed its emotion. “We read their words, we see their images, we hear their voices. Behind every article and every report, there are women and men who risk their lives to inform us. Arman Soldin was one of them”, reacted on Twitter the European deputy Stéphane Séjourné, secretary general of the presidential party Renaissance.
The socialist mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo said she was “very moved by this terrible news” and expressed “a thought for all the journalists who are working on all fronts to inform us all over the world”. “All my support for journalists from countries at war who inform us all over the world, sometimes at the risk of their lives”, also tweeted the leader of the deputies La France insoumise, Mathilde Panot.
“Immense emotion on learning this evening of the death of a French journalist, Arman Soldin, who died in the exercise of his profession, in Ukraine”, also reacted the patron saint of the deputies of the National Rally Marine Le Pen.
Antony Blinken “devastated”
Internationally, kyiv also reacted to this tragic death. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry offered its “sincere condolences to his family and colleagues” on Twitter, adding, “He dedicated his life to reporting the truth to the world.”
Washington, for its part, considers that “the world owes a debt to Arman” Soldin and to “the 10 other reporters and media workers who lost their lives” covering the conflict. “Our hearts go out to the family of Arman Soldin, who lost his life today on the front line of the war in Ukraine, and to his colleagues at AFP,” said the House spokeswoman. -Blanche, Karine Jean-Pierre, recalling that “journalism is one of the foundations of a free society”.
For his part, during a speech in front of the Freedom House, a think tank in Washington, the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was “devastated” by this news. “We send our thoughts to his family and loved ones as well as to the entire AFP family”, he added, recalling that “so many journalists work to expose and report the truth in extremely dangerous conditions”.