“Journalist Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff went to Ukraine to show the reality of the war. On board a humanitarian bus, alongside civilians forced to flee to escape Russian bombs, he was shot dead,” Macron tweeted on Monday. .
“I share the grief of the family, friends and colleagues of Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff, to whom I send my condolences. To those who carry out the difficult mission of information in the theaters of operations, I want to reiterate the unconditional support of France.” . Macron added.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said she had spoken to the governor of Luhansk and called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate.
“This is a double crime, aimed at a humanitarian convoy and a journalist,” he said.
Leclerc-Imhoff, 32, worked for CNN affiliate BFM TV, which issued a statement saying its staff was “deeply saddened” by his death, adding that he was killed on the road to Lyssychansk. in the Severodonetsk region of Ukraine.
“He was shot dead while undergoing humanitarian operations in an armored vehicle on Monday. He was accompanied by his teammate Maxime Brandstaetter, who was slightly injured in the strike, and his” repairman “Oksana Leuta, who was not hit. “The statement said.
Leclerc-Imhoff had worked for BFM TV for six years, the station said, and was on his second trip to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion.
“Altice Media Group and the BFMTV editorial staff share the grief of their family and friends,” the statement said. “This tragic event reminds us of the dangers facing all journalists who have been risking their lives for more than three months to report this conflict.”
It is not the first time a journalist has been assassinated covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In early March, a Ukrainian camera operator, Yevhenii Sakun, was killed when the Kyiv TV tower was bombed.
Then, on March 13, the award-winning American journalist Brent Renaud was killed by Russian forces in the Ukrainian city of Irpin, according to Kyiv police. Another American journalist, Juan Arredondo, was injured.
And the next day, Fox News reporters Pierre Zakrzewski, a 55-year-old war photojournalist, and Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, a 24-year-old Ukrainian journalist who worked as a network consultant, were killed near Kyiv .
Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall was seriously injured in the attack.