Journalist struck in missile attack - 24th May 2023

For many who pursue a career in journalism, recording the stark truth of events as they unfold and making that knowledge public is like a vocation. Dedicated journalists will put their lives on the line to achieve this, especially if they find themselves reporting from the battlefield.

One such journalist, Arman Soldin, had grasped the opportunity to work on the front line in conflict-ridden Ukraine and was one of the first on site following the invasion. In the words of his mother, "he wanted to see the truth."

On 9th May, the life of the 32-year old journalist and photographer was brutally cut short when, alongside the rest of the AFP team, he was trapped in a barrage of Grad rockets in a Ukrainian town not far from war-beset Bakhmut, in eastern Donbas. While the rest of his team escaped unharmed, his demise adds to the ever-increasing toll of journalists killed in Ukraine - at least 11 have lost their lives.

A minute's silence was conducted in AFP centres the world over, for journalists and co-workers to pay their respects.

Phil Chetwynd: "I think just what emerges from that is just a simply wonderful human being, an unbelievably dedicated journalist who believed his work could make the world a better place. He was in Ukraine because he believed in that and I think it's incredibly important that we remember that and honour that."

Bosnian by birth, Soldin held French citizenship and the circumstances of the attack will be probed as a crime against humanity by French anti-terror prosecutors.

The journalist died with a camera in his hand, and this report's video footage was predominantly shot while Soldin was on assignment in Ukraine.