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Arman Soldin

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Arman Soldin
Born(1991-03-21)21 March 1991
Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia
Died9 May 2023(2023-05-09) (aged 32)
Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine
CitizenshipFrench
Alma materUniversity College London
University of Sarajevo
Université Lumière
OccupationJournalist
Years active2015–2023
EmployerAgence France-Presse

Arman Soldin (21 March 1991 – 9 May 2023) was a Bosnian-born French journalist.[1]

Early life

Soldin was born on 21 March 1991 in Sarajevo. He was evacuated to France in 1992, at the age of 12 months. In addition to Bosnian as his native language, Soldin spoke French, English, and Italian.[2]

Education

Soldin took the French Baccalaureate, specializing in Science, with an upper second class honor at the Lycée Saint Martin, Rennes, 2006–2009. In 2013 at University College London he attained a BA in Politics & Eastern European Studies with Politics, Economics, History, International Relations, and there was co-editor in chef of its Eureka Magazine covering politics, society, arts and culture. At the Académie Nationale des Arts Scéniques de Bosnie-Hérzégovine, Université de Sarajevo his 2014 MA was in Production and Management in performing arts, and cinematography and production in film and video; then in 2014–15 he graduated from the Université Lumière, Lyon with a Masters in Journalism - New Journalistic Practices.[citation needed]

Career

Arman Soldin joined Agence France-Presse in 2015 as an intern in Rome reporting on African refugee arrivals at the small Italian island of Lampedusa.[3] He then worked for the agency's London office, reporting in June 2018 on the stand-off between the Italian government and the Lifeline humanitarian ship with 233 migrants on board, many ill, when it arrived in Malta after a week of waiting in the Mediterranean,[4] and in October on Nationalist Milorad Dodik winning the seat reserved for Serbs in the Bosnian collegiate presidency.[5] In 2019 he broke a story on the thirty-nine bodies, including that of a teenager, discovered in east London in a refrigerated lorry from Belgium.[6] During the emergence of Brexit he wrote in December 2019 on Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon's opposition and her bid for a plebiscite on Scottish independence.[7] From 2020 he was again posted to Rome. Known as a gifted footballer for Stade Rennais in western France from 2006 to 2008,[8] he was a sports commentator 2021–2023 on English Premier League, UEFA Women's Euro, UEFA Super Cup matches for Canal+ France.[9]

Ukraine

As the Russian invasion started in February 2022, Arman volunteered immediately to be among the France-Presse agency's first special envoys.[8] He was later rotated, against his wishes,[10] but returned to Ukraine in September 2022, working as a video coordinator.[1] Frequently he used his mobile phone to record subjects who would otherwise be intimidated by a video camera.[8] In Kherson in December 2022, Soldin produced video for AFP of risky civilian rescues of Ukrainians stranded on islands in the Dnieper River after Russian troops retreated in November to the other side of the Dnieper, but kept snipers and artillery trained along the river, rendering it a new front line.[11] His coverage in January 2023 showed an intense Russian offensive on Soledar,[12] and Vuhledar,[13] in the eastern Donetsk Oblast. In April 2023 he covered Ukrainian soldiers digging defences near Bakhmut.[14]

Death

On 9 May 2023, the team was near the city of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, together with a detachment of Ukrainian soldiers. Soldin was killed by a Grad rocket[15] which exploded near the place he was lying. Nobody else was injured.[1] Soldin was 32.[16]

Gulnoza Said, the Committee to Protect Journalists' Europe and Central Asia program coordinator in New York responded to news of his death with the statement:

The Committee to Protect Journalists is profoundly saddened by the death of journalist Arman Soldin while covering the war in Ukraine. We extend our deep condolences to his friends and family. Journalists are civilians whose reporting from war zones is essential. We call on Russian and Ukrainian authorities to thoroughly investigate the circumstances of Soldin’s death.[17]

The CPJ noted that Soldin is the 17th journalist to be killed in Ukraine since 2022.[15] Reporters Without Borders global news director Phil Chetwynd remarked that;

Arman's brilliant work encapsulates everything that makes us so proud of AFP journalism in Ukraine. Arman's death is a terrible reminder of the risks and dangers of reporting on this war.[18]

Agence France-Presse director for Europe Christine Buhagiar remembered Soldin as "enthusiastic, energetic and courageous".[18] French President Emmanuel Macron used Twitter to announce that "a journalist from Agence France-Presse, one of our compatriots, Arman Soldin, was killed in Ukraine. With courage, from the first hours of the conflict he was at the front to establish the facts." White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said that the "world owes a debt to Arman Soldin, an AFP journalist who lost his life today on the front line of the war in Ukraine...journalism is one of the foundations of a free society".[8]

Soldin was an avid social media user. One of the stories which received attention was when he and his team found an injured hedgehog in a trench, fed and released it to nature after a couple of days.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c "AFP journalist killed by rocket fire in eastern Ukraine". Le Monde. 9 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Arman Soldin, from Sarajevo to reporting on Ukraine front lines". France 24. 9 May 2023.
  3. ^ Soldin, Arman (2015-02-21). "Lampedusa: le calme avant la tempête". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  4. ^ Soldin, Arman (2018-06-27). "Fin de l'odyssée du "Lifeline" à Malte". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  5. ^ Soldin, Arman (2018-10-06). "Présidence bosnienne: victoire du nationaliste serbe Dodik". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  6. ^ Peuchmaurd, Sylvain; Soldin, Arman (2019-10-23). "39 corps découverts dans un camion au Royaume-Uni". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  7. ^ Peuchmaurd, Sylvain; Soldin, Arman (2019-12-13). "L'unité du Royaume-Uni en question". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  8. ^ a b c d "Ukraine : 'Le monde a une dette envers Arman' Soldin, réagit la Maison Blanche après le décès du journaliste français | TV5MONDE - Informations". information.tv5monde.com (in French). 2023-05-10. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  9. ^ "Arman Soldin". Internet Commentator Database. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Ukraine: When things fall apart". Agence France-Presse. 24 March 2022.
  11. ^ Peuchot, Emmanuel; Soldin, Arman (2022-12-08). "Snipers and icy water: Ukrainians risk Dnieper River crossings". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  12. ^ Newspaper, The Peninsula (2023-01-13). "Ukraine resisting 'high intensity' offensive in Soledar". thepeninsulaqatar.com. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  13. ^ AFP, Arman Soldin for (2023-01-28). "'Fierce' Battle in Ukraine for Vuhledar Near Donetsk". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  14. ^ PEUCHOT, Emmanuel. "Trench-digging Ukrainian Troops Targeted By Russian Strikes". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  15. ^ a b Patil, Anushka (2023-05-09). "An A.F.P. journalist was killed by rocket fire near the intense fighting in the area around Bakhmut". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  16. ^ Harding, Luke (9 May 2023). "French journalist killed in Russian rocket strike in Ukraine". The Guardian.
  17. ^ Spicer, Sarah (2023-05-09). "AFP journalist Arman Soldin killed while covering war in Ukraine". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  18. ^ a b "U Ukrajini poginuo reporter AFP-a Arman Soldin koji je rođen u Sarajevu". www.klix.ba (in Croatian). Retrieved 2023-05-10.
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