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French journalist killed while reporting on Ukraine war

A French journalist has been killed while working in Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday, the latest of several reporters killed or wounded during Russia's invasion of the country.

Published: 30 May 2022 16:59 CEST

French journalist killed while reporting on Ukraine war

Photo by Carlos REYES / AFP)

“Fréderic Leclerc-Imhoff was in Ukraine to show the reality of war.

“On board a humanitarian bus with civilians forced to flee to escape Russian bombings, he was mortally wounded,” Macron wrote.

Leclerc-Imhoff’s employer, French TV channel BFM, also confirmed that he had been killed.

BFMTV a l’immense douleur d’annoncer la disparition de Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, journaliste reporter d’images, en Ukraine pic.twitter.com/lnz23rAkUH

— BFMTV (@BFMTV) May 30, 2022

Prime minister Elisabeth Borne was among the first to convey her condolences, saying: “It is with immense sadness that I learned of the death of Fréderic Leclerc-Imhoff in Ukraine, killed in the course of his work. Informing the public should not cost anyone their life.

“My sincere condolences to his loved ones and all management and staff at BFM.”

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France to transfer Mirage-2000 fighter jets to Ukraine

“Tomorrow we will launch a new cooperation and announce the transfer of Mirage 2000-5,” fighter jets to Ukraine made by French manufacturer Dassault and train their Ukrainian pilots in France, Macron told French TV.

Macron said he would offer to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when the two meet for talks at the Elysée Palace in Paris on Friday that the pilots be trained from this summer.

“You normally need between five, six months [training]. So by the end of the year there will be pilots. The pilots will be trained in France,” he said.

He did not specify how many of the fighter jets would be delivered, and the defence ministry did not elaborate when contacted by AFP.

Macron said Ukraine faced a ‘huge challenge’ training soldiers as it sought to mobilise tens of thousands more troops to go to the front.

He said France would equip and train a brigade of 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers so they can defend themselves when they return to Ukraine from training.

Kyiv has been pushing Europe to increase its military support, with Russia in recent months gaining the upper hand on the battlefield.

Zelensky’s visit to France, where on Thursday he attended ceremonies for the 80th anniversary of D-Day and crossed paths with US President Joe Biden, is seen as a crucial time to drum up more help.

Macron said Ukraine has asked Western allies to send military instructors to train its forces on its soil to meet the growing challenge to build up troop numbers.

“The Ukrainian president and his minister of defence asked all the allies – 48 hours ago in an official letter – saying ‘we need you to train us quicker and that you do this on our soil’,” Macron said.

There had been speculation that Macron could swiftly announce the sending of French instructors to Ukraine, even after his talks with Zelensky on Friday.

But he said France and its allies would come together and decide and also emphasised that he did not believe any such moves by Paris were ‘escalatory’.

“We are working with our partners and we will act on the basis of a collective decision,” he said.

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