Agence France-Presse’s video service coordinator in Ukraine, Armand Solden, was killed this afternoon by a Grad missile strike in eastern Ukraine, according to AFP journalists accompanying him.

The bombing occurred around 16:30 (local and Greek time) on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, a Ukrainian community very close to the city of Bakhmut, which is targeted daily by Russian forces.

32-year-old Armand Solden was accompanied by four of his colleagues. None of the others were injured. The journalists were with Ukrainian soldiers when they were hit by rocket fire.

Armaan’s family was informed of his death.

AFP journalists regularly go to this zone, the epicenter of the conflict in Ukraine for many months.

“The whole AFP is devastated. His death is a horrific reminder of the dangers journalists face every day while covering the war in Ukraine,” said Agency President and CEO Fabrice Fries.

Phil Chettwin, AFP’s Director of News, hailed a “courageous, creative and tenacious” journalist, “whose outstanding work epitomizes everything that makes us proud of AFP’s journalistic work in Ukraine.”

Armand Solden was born in Sarajevo and had French and Bosnian citizenship. He joined AFP in 2015 first as an intern in Rome and then in the agency’s London office. He was part of the team of journalists who covered the first days of the war in Ukraine, while since September 2022 he had assumed the role of video coordinator in that country and went very often to the front line. He is at least the 11th reporter, escort or guide to be killed in Ukraine since the start of the war on February 24, according to a count by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists