Paris calls for an investigation after the murder of a French journalist in Ukraine

PARIS (Reuters) – France called on Monday for an investigation after a French journalist was killed in Ukraine when the vehicle he was traveling in to evacuate civilians near the city of Severodonetsk was bombed.

“France demands an investigation as soon as possible and with transparency into the circumstances of this drama,” Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who was in Ukraine on Monday, said in a statement.

Frédéric Leclerc-Imhof, 32, is the last journalist killed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, on his second press tour for French broadcaster BFM in Ukraine, the employer said.

The governor of Ukraine’s Luhansk region, Serhiy Heidi, said in a post on the Telegram messaging service that an armored transport vehicle was hit by shrapnel from a Russian shell, killing the journalist. An attached photo showed a truck that appeared to be fitted with armor. Read more

He said that evacuation efforts were suspended after the strike.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Leclerc Emhov is the 32nd media person to have been killed since the Russian invasion began on February 24.

“My deepest condolences to Frederick’s colleagues and family,” Zelensky said in his video night address.

The Russian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Moscow has repeatedly denied that its forces are targeting civilians in Ukraine.

Kolona said on Twitter that she had spoken to the governor of Luhansk and had asked Zelensky to conduct an investigation.

Both assured her of their help and support.

“It is a double crime to target a humanitarian convoy and a journalist,” she said.

“Frederic Leclerc-Imhof was in Ukraine to show the reality of war. On a humanitarian bus with civilians forced to flee to escape Russian bombs, he was mortally wounded,” President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter.

(Reporting by Dominic Vidalon, Conor Humphries and Max Hunder) Editing: JV D Clerc, Allison Williams and Leslie Adler

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