France opens war crime investigation after AFP journalist was killed in Ukraine

 France has opened a war crime investigation following the death of Agence France-Presse journalist Arman Soldin in Ukraine, a statement from the country's antiterrorism prosecution office said on Wednesday. 

The investigation was opened under three "war crimes," according to the translated statement, including: a "voluntary attack on the life and physical or psychological integrity of a person," the "deliberate attack against the civilian population," and the "deliberate attack in the knowledge that it will cause incidental loss of civilian life or injury to the civilian population."

France’s antiterrorism prosecution office has already opened seven preliminary investigations against "persons unknown" for war crimes committed since February 2022 against French nationals in Ukraine, the statement added. "Two of them concern crimes committed against French journalists in the exercise of their profession," it said.

Soldin was killed in a rocket attack on the outskirts of the town of Chasiv Yar, near Bakhmut, AFP announced on Twitter, citing colleagues who witnessed the incident. Soldin and the reporting team were with Ukrainian soldiers when they came under fire around 4:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday, according to AFP. The 32-year-old was with four colleagues at the time of the attack, but the other journalists were not injured, the news agency added.