President Emmanuel Macron announced it Monday on Twitter. A French journalist was killed in Ukraine while he worked for the BFMTV channel and accompanied civilians aboard a humanitarian bus. “Journalist, Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff was in Ukraine to show the reality of the war. On board a humanitarian bus, alongside civilians forced to flee to escape Russian bombs, he was fatally shot,” wrote the head of state.
Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff’s employer confirmed the information in a press release: “The Altice Media group has the immense pain of announcing the disappearance of Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, image reporter, killed this Monday, May 30 near from Lysichansk in Ukraine, where he was covering the ongoing war for BFMTV. Following a humanitarian operation in an armored Ukrainian police vehicle, Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff was the victim of shrapnel. He was accompanied by Maxime Brandstaetter, BFMTV reporter, slightly injured during this strike, and their “fixer” Oksana Leuta, who was not affected. »
Passionate and rigorous, not a “hothead”
“The armored truck was not hit directly but shrapnel went through the armored windscreen. A burst touched Frédéric, ”said Patrick Sauce, great reporter for the news channel. “Frédéric was not a hothead. He weighed every minute of his mission, said visibly moved Marc-Olivier Fogiel, general manager of BFMTV, on the set of the channel. The three members of the team discussed as they do every morning: Oksana and Frédéric felt that the mission was secure enough to be able to go there. Maxime, he had more questions, as he could have had the day before or the next day. But that’s also a reporting team, they’re very close-knit people, they decided to go there. »
Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff was 32 years old and had worked for BFMTV for 6 years. The Institute of Journalism Bordeaux Aquitaine, from which he graduated in 2014, told AFP to keep “the memory of a student as endearing as passionate, rigorous and sensitive”.
Eight journalists killed since the start of the conflict
The management of BFMTV is associated with “the pain of his family and loved ones. This tragic event reminds us of the dangers incurred by all journalists who have been reporting on this conflict at the risk of their lives for more than three months now. »
The head of French diplomacy Catherine Colonna “demanded” on Monday “a transparent investigation as soon as possible to shed full light on the circumstances of this tragedy”. Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, at least eight journalists have died in the field in the exercise of their profession, according to a report by Reporters Without Borders.