French prosecutors on Sunday announced the opening of a “war crimes” investigation following the death of French photojournalist Antoni Lallican in southeastern Ukraine, according to the state-owned network France 24.

The anti-terror prosecutor (PNAT) declared that the investigation was assigned to the Central Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crimes. “War crimes” charges fall within the scope of PNAT responsibilities and are defined as “deliberate attacks on the life and physical or mental integrity of a person protected by international humanitarian law.”

According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Lallican was on assignment for the photojournalism agency Hans Lucas. Lallican was located near the front line in the Donbas region with Ukraine’s Fourth Armored Brigade at the time he was killed on October 3. French President Emmanuel Macron issued a statement on X, claiming that Lallican was a victim of a drone attack by Russia.

Lallican has documented the effects of the Ukraine-Russia war on-site since March 2022, with a particular focus on the Donbas region. Notably, Lallican’s reportage on the war was awarded the 2024 Victor Hugo Prize for Committed Photography.

The International Federation of Journalists alleged that the death of a journalist by drone strike had occurred for the first time in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the conflict, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported that at least 18 journalists and media workers were killed through crossfire, dangerous assignment or murder while reporting. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) noted that a plethora of press workers have “fallen victim to the war in Ukraine”, with 4 French journalists being killed.

Sergiy Tomilenko, president of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), stated that the targeting of journalists is a deliberate attempt by Russia to silence those attempting to capture war crimes. The rising death rate of journalists in conflict zones was marked as an “unsettling trend” by UNESCO in December 2024. UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay stressed that “reliable information is vital in conflict situations to help affected populations and to enlighten the world.”