French journalist killed by drone in Ukraine, photo agency says
By Max Saltman, Svitlana Vlasova, CNN
(CNN) — French photojournalist Antoni Lallican was killed by a drone in Ukraine on Friday, according to his employer and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Lallican, 38, was on assignment for the Hans Lucas photo agency when he was killed Friday morning, according to the agency.
The attack also injured a Ukrainian journalist, Heorgiy Ivanchenko, according to the International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ), which added that both journalists were wearing bulletproof vests marked “Press.”
In a statement to CNN, the Hans Lucas Agency said that Lallican was an award-winning photographer who had worked for the company since 2018.
“His work focused on social and societal issues, with a particular focus on conflict zones and human rights,” the statement said. “Particularly committed to the conflict in Ukraine, he had been traveling there regularly since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.”
Macron said on social media that Lallican “was accompanying the Ukrainian army on the front of resistance” and was “a victim of a Russian drone attack.”
“I learned with deep sadness of his death, a victim of a Russian drone attack,” Macron wrote as he extended his “heartfelt condolences” to Lallican’s family.
Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha also expressed his condolences in a post.
Lallican was killed by a Russian first-person view (FPV) drone, according to a social media post by Sergiy Tomilenko, president of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU).
“Currently, the main threat to journalists, as well as to all civilians, is Russian drones hunting people,” Tomilenko wrote.
CNN has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment.
Civilians in Ukrainian cities near the front lines have previously told CNN that Russian FPV drones are a constant threat, with virtually no target off limits: pedestrians, cars, buses and even ambulances have suffered attacks.
Russia has repeatedly maintained that it does not target civilians.
Not counting Lallican, at least 16 journalists have died reporting on the war in Ukraine since the Russian invasion, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The vast majority were killed during the first year of the war.
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CNN’s Joseph Ataman contributed.
