French journalist hit by shell shrapnel dies in Ukraine

France calls death ‘deeply shocking’ and demands ‘transparent inquiry’ into killing

French cameraman and reporter Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff, 32, died in eastern Ukraine on 30 May, 2022 (EPA)

A 32-year-old French journalist has died after being hit by shell shrapnel as he documented an evacuation operation in eastern Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron has said.

Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff, who worked for the news channel BFMTV, was killed on Monday on a road near the Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk.

The French president said his thoughts were with the victim’s family and friends.

“Aboard a humanitarian bus, alongside civilians forced to flee to escape Russian bombs, he was fatally shot,” Mr Macron said.

Mr Leclerc-Imhoff was in Ukraine “to show the reality of the war”, he added, noting his country’s “unconditional support” to “those who carry out the difficult mission of informing in theatres of operations”.

The French foreign minister Catherine Colonna described Mr Leclerc-Imhoff’s death as “deeply shocking” and called for a “transparent inquiry” to be launched into the killing.

The 32-year-old’s employer BFMTV said he was struck on board an “armoured vehicle” near Sievierodonetsk, the largest city in the eastern Luhansk region still in Ukrainian hands, where Russian attacks have intensified in recent days.

Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk, also confirmed Mr Leclerc-Imhoff’s death in a Telegram post on Monday, posting images of the aftermath of what he said was a Russian attack.

“Shrapnel from the shells pierced the vehicle’s armour, fatally wounding an accredited French journalist in the neck who was reporting on the evacuation. The patrol officer was saved by his helmet,” he said.

The evacuation was called off due to the attack, which injured another French journalist and a Ukrainian woman, according to interior ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko.

Mr Leclerc-Imhoff’s body will be taken to Dnipro to undergo an autopsy, he added.

Responding to news of his death, Wladimir Klitschko, the former heavyweight boxing champion whose brother Vitali is the mayor of Kyiv, said: “Russia can‘t kill the truth and will face justice.”

Mr Leclerc-Imhoff is the latest journalist to die in the conflict, which has claimed the lives of many others, including the American documentary-maker Brent Renaud and the Ukrainian photographer Maks Levin.