The IPI global network today strongly condemns the Russian drone strike that killed French photojournalist Antoni Lallican, and injured Ukrainian photojournalist George Ivanchenko.
The drone strike occurred on Friday, October 3, when Lallican and Ivanchenko were traveling together near the town of Druzhkivka in Ukraine’s Donbass region. The two photojournalists were wearing protective gear with visible “PRESS” markings and were accompanied by a press officer delegated by Ukraine’s armed forces.
This is the first instance of a journalist being killed in a drone strike since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Lallican died of his injuries immediately following the strike. Ivanchenko was transferred to a nearby hospital and received urgent medical treatment. One of his legs was amputated but he is reportedly in stable condition.
“IPI expresses our deepest condolences to colleagues and family of Antoni Lallican, a renowned photojournalist who devoted his life to covering war and conflict around the world – including in Ukraine, Syria, and Haiti,” IPI Executive Director Scott Griffen said. “We also wish Ukrainian photojournalist George Ivanchenko a speedy recovery.”
He added: “We are deeply alarmed by the Russian drone strike on these photojournalists, who were clearly identifiable as members of the press. We welcome news that French and Ukrainian authorities have opened an investigation. Journalists, as civilians, are protected under international and international humanitarian law – and any deliberate attacks on journalists must be investigated as a war crime.”
Lallican worked for a range of French and international news agencies, including Le Monde, Le Figaro, Libération, Mediapart, Die Welt, Stern, TAZ, Le Temps, Der Standard, La Presse, and the Hans Lucas press agency.
Ivanchenko is a freelance photojournalist who published for the Kyiv Independent, among other outlets. Olga Rudenko, the editor-in-chief of the Kyiv Independent, said that Ivanchenko was not on assignment for the outlet at the time of the Russian drone strike, but was planning to pitch a story from the Donbass to their team.
Lallican’s death brings to 15 the tally of journalists killed in relation to their work in Ukraine, according to IPI monitoring. This includes Victoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist who was taken captive by Russia in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, and who later died in Russian detention.
While the first months of Russia’s full-scale invasion proved to be the most deadly, Lallican’s death serves as a reminder of the dangers journalists in Ukraine continue to face while covering this conflict. In August 2024, a Russian missile strike on a hotel used by journalists in Kramatorsk (Dobass region) claimed the life of Reuters security adviser Ryan Evans, and injured three other media workers.