French photojournalist Antoni Lallican He has died this Friday in eastern Ukraine after being attacked with a drone of the Russian forces. It is the first time that an informant dies from this cause since the beginning of the large -scale invasion.
The crime occurred at 9.20, local time, in the Donbás region. The Ukrainian journalist Heorgiy Ivanchenko It was injured in the same bombing. Both wore bulletproof vests and helmets with press identification.
Lallican was in the area working for the Hans Lucas photojournalism agency, based in Carcassone. His images have been published in top media as The world, Le Figaro, Libération, The mirror o The world.
In January he was awarded the Victor Hugo of Photography Award compromised for his series Suddenly the sky darkenedfocused on everyday life in Donbás.
“Today, in Ukraine, the main threat to journalists, as for the entire population, are the Russian drones that hunt people,” denounces Sergueï Tomilenkopresident of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, in a press release. “They are not collateral victims. By attacking journalists, the Russian army seeks to silence those who try to document war crimes.”
The International Federation and the European Federation of Journalists have expressed their condolences to the Lallican family and demand investigation to identify those responsible. “We pay tribute to the courage of Antoni Lallican and all reporters who continue to cover the war,” they point out in the same statement.
Since February 2022, at least 17 journalists have died in Ukraine in the exercise of their work, according to professional organizations. Among them are Arman Soldin, Brent Renaud y Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff.
The use of drones against civilians and humanitarian workers has become a usual practice of the Russian army.
The chronicle of María Senovilla For the Spanish written from Jersón, he realizes it. The devices fly over whole neighborhoods and release fragmentation loads against civilians who come out of purchase, go to their job or travel in ambulance. The population lives under a constant threat that, as in the case of Lallican, also hits those who report on the war from the ground.