Skip to content
French journalist Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff was killed near Sievierodonetsk on May 30, 2022. (BFM TV)
This audio is created with AI assistance

Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight.

Become a member Support us just once

Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff, a 32-year-old French journalist, was killed by shrapnel on May 30 while covering the evacuation of civilians on the road to Lysychansk, near Sievierodonetsk, in eastern Luhansk Oblast.

According to Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk Oblast, Russian forces shelled an armored evacuation vehicle that carried civilians, killing Leclerc-Imhoff. The evacuation was suspended, the governor added.

Leclerc-Imhoff was with a colleague, Maxime Brandstaetter, 27, who received a shrapnel wound to the left leg, and their Ukrainian fixer Oksana Leuta, who received a concussion, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

“Shrapnel from the grenades pierced the armor of the car … a fatal wound in the neck was received by an accredited French journalist who was making a report on the evacuation. A police officer (at the scene) was saved by his helmet,” Haidai said.

Leclerc-Imhoff was inside the vehicle, while the rest of the team was outside it.

A view of the windshield of the bus hit by a Russian shelling, in which Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff received a fatal shrapnel wound on May 30. (Serhiy Haidai, Telegram)

The body of Leclerc-Imhoff was evacuated alongside the rest of the team from Lysychansk to Bakhmut and then to Dnipro, where another team of journalists from BFM TV, their employer, was due to take care of the body and repatriate it to France.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced Leclerc-Imhoff’s death on Twitter on May 30, reiterating France’s support "to those who ensure the difficult mission of reporting in combat zones.”

At least eight journalists have been killed while reporting on Russia’s war in Ukraine since Feb. 24, according to Reporters Without Borders.

An intense battle is occuring for Sievierodonetsk – a key city – with Russian forces entering the outskirts and pushing towards nearby Lysychansk.

Sievierodonetsk serves as Luhansk Oblast’s administrative center, which Russia has been trying to conquer since it retreated from the outskirts of Kyiv at the end of March.

Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight.
Freedom can be costly. Both Ukraine and its journalists are paying a high price for their independence. Support independent journalism in its darkest hour. Support us for as little as $1, and it only takes a minute.
visa masterCard americanExpress

News Feed

11:16 AM

Kuleba begins first trip to India.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he was in the Indian capital New Delhi at the invitation of Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and that the two would "pay specific attention to the peace formula" in their talks.
Ukraine Daily
News from Ukraine in your inbox
Ukraine news
Please, enter correct email address
5:30 AM

Ukrainian POWs faced conditional release from Hungary.

Two Ukrainian prisoners of war, part of a group of 11 handed over to Hungary by Russia in June 2023, said in an interview to Deutsche Welle, that Hungarian representatives imposed conditions preventing their return to Ukraine until the war's end.
3:16 AM

Estonian police arrest citizen who reported for Russian state media.

Estonian police have arrested Svetlana Burceva, an Estonian citizen, for allegedly violating international sanctions having served as a reporter for Russian state sponsored Balt News - an arm of the Kremlin-run Russia Today (RT) news outlet, Estonian publication Eesti Ekspress reported on March 27.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.