A Russian drone killed French photojournalist Antoni Lallican in eastern Ukraine on 3 October while he was covering the war near the frontlines. He was clearly identified as press and wore protective gear. French President Emmanuel Macron expressed deep sorrow and praised Lallican’s work documenting the war.

Lallican’s death was not collateral — it was deliberate

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) confirmed that Antoni Lallican was killed at 9:20 in the morning by a drone strike in the Donbas while working on assignment. Ukrainian journalist Heorhii Ivanchenko was also wounded in the same attack. Both wore bulletproof vests clearly marked “Press.” Lallican was on assignment for the photojournalism agency Hans Lucas.

EFJ-IFJ condemned the strike as a war crime and called for a full investigation to identify and hold the perpetrators accountable. The organization states this is the first time a journalist has been killed by a drone in Ukraine. 

Lallican had been based in Paris and contributed to major outlets including Le Monde, Le Figaro, Libération, Mediapart, Der Spiegel, Zeit, Die Welt, Le Temps, Der Standard, and La Presse. He began covering the war in Ukraine in March 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion, and focused on long-term documentation of life in the Donbas mining basin.

In January, he won the 2024 Victor Hugo Prize for Committed Photography for his series “Suddenly the sky darkened”, which was dedicated to the war in Ukraine.

“Today, in Ukraine, the main threat to journalists, as to all civilians, is Russian drones hunting people,” said Serhii Tomilenko, head of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU). “These are not collateral victims of the war. By targeting journalists, the Russian army is deliberately hunting those trying to document war crimes.”

According to EFJ-IFJ, since the start of Russia’s all-out war, 17 journalists have been killed in Ukraine: Antoni Lallican, Tetyana Kulyk, Ryan Evans, Arman Soldin, Bohdan Bitik, Brent Renaud, Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, Ihor Hudenko, Maks Levin, Mantas Kvedaravičius, Oksana Baulina, Oleksandra Kuvshynova, Pierre Zakrzewski, Roman Nezhyborets, Yevgeny Bal, Yevheniy Sakun, and Zoreslav Zamoysky.

Ukraine's Ministry of Culture reported in September that 111 Ukrainian and foreign media workers—including journalists, photo reporters, camera operators, news producers—were killed in the war since 2022.

“Alongside Antoni Lallican, these journalists have paid with their lives for their reporting in the field,” the EFJ-IFJ said. “We pay tribute to the courage of Antoni Lallican and all the journalists who continue to cover the war. We demand that the perpetrators of his crime be brought to justice.”

Macron: Lallican died showing the world the truth

French President Emmanuel Macron posted messages on X in both French and Ukrainian mourning Lallican’s death and honoring his courage.

“Our compatriot, the photojournalist Antoni Lallican, accompanied the Ukrainian army on the front of the resistance,” Macron wrote. “I learned with deep sadness of his death, victim of a Russian drone attack.”

He expressed “sincere condolences to his family, his loved ones, and to all his colleagues who, at the risk of their lives, inform us and bear witness to the reality of the war.”