ROME – Arman Soldin, 32, was killed on Tuesday whilst reporting from the warzone in eastern Ukraine after being hit by rocket fire near Chasiv Yar, just west of Bakhmut. Soldin had previously been based in Rome where he worked as a journalist for Agence France Presse (AFP). 

 The Rome-based AFP editorial office has extended its condolences to Soldin’s family on the loss of their former colleague who “From the very beginning of the war wanted to report from the front line.”

 “Arman before being a colleague was a friend to me. It was right here in Rome that he started doing our job, the video journalist, learning all the basics and bringing the enthusiasm typical of his young age. Always smiling and positive, he had accompanied me to Lampedusa and other Italian stories,” said Giovanni Grezzi, trustee of the Rome-based AFP editorial office. 

 “He had come back to see us many times after being hired in London. He had covered the 2018 elections and the outbreak of the pandemic in our country. Because he loved Italy and felt he was one of us and at the same time a citizen of the world. From Sarajevo, where he was born shortly before the outbreak of another infamous war, he had managed to escape to France with his mother. Welcomed by the Paris government, he honoured his adopted homeland. Brilliant and intelligent with great humanity he leaves a void in our hearts. May the earth be soft to you little great Arman,” Grezzi’s statement concluded. 

cw