Mourning for the 37 -year -old Frenchman press photographer killed today Friday 03.10.2025, by Drones attack on east Ukraineaccording to the announcement of the EFJ-IFJ and SNJ journalistic associations.
As the French President said Emmanuel Macron In a post on X, “he was a victim of a Russian unmanned aircraft attack while accompanying the Ukrainian army on the front.” He expressed his condolences to the family and colleagues of the wronged photojournalist who lost his life in Donbas area in Ukraine.
“Our compatriot accompanied the Ukrainian army on the front of the resistance. I learned deeply sadly at his death, a victim of a Russian assault, “the French president also wrote, who also paid tribute to” all his colleagues who, at risk of their lives, inform us and record the reality of the war. “
The same attack was injured by a Ukrainian journalist, Horchi Ivanchenko, was reported by the European and International Federation of Journalists and the National Trade Union of Journalists.
The attack was reportedly around 10.20am on Friday morning.
FEJ and FIJ “condemn this war crime and call on the authorities to start investigating to identify those responsible,” they said in a press release.
“This is the first time a journalist has been killed by a drone in Ukraine,” he said.
The military team, along with which the journalists were, also confirmed that it was a Russian unmanned aircraft. Antoni Lalikan “was killed after a targeted blow of a hostile Drone FPV,” a post on Facebook said.
“The two journalists were wearing individual protection equipment” and in their vests “there were identifiers, the word” press “,” according to the same source.
Antoni Lalikan worked for various French media (Le Monde, Le Figaro, Libération, Paris Match, etc.) but also (Der Spiegel, Die Welt, Le Temps, etc.). Since 2018 he has been at the Hans Lucas Photographic Agency, according to President Wilfried Estib.
“He would often go to Ukraine, knew the field very well and knew how to act,” Estib told the French News Agency, who spoke of a “lovable” colleague.
The number of journalists who have been killed in Ukraine by the beginning of the war in February 2022 varies depending on the source. According to UNESCO, 22 journalists were killed in the exercise of their profession, 17 according to the SNJ Union.