French prosecutors have launched a war crimes investigation in response to the death of French photojournalist Antoni Lallican in Ukraine, highlighting the escalating perils faced by journalists in conflict zones. The anti-terrorism unit in France, the Parquet National Antiterroriste (PNAT), is spearheading the investigation, assigned to the Central Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crimes. Under the jurisdiction of PNAT, war crimes encompass deliberate attacks on individuals safeguarded by international humanitarian law.
Lallican, who was working for the photojournalism agency Hans Lucas, was reportedly killed by a drone strike near the front lines in the Donbas region on October 3, 2025. French President Emmanuel Macron immediately condemned the attack, attributing it to Russian forces on the platform formerly known as Twitter. Since the onset of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, Lallican had meticulously documented the devastation, with his work in the Donbas gaining significant recognition, including the 2024 Victor Hugo Prize for Committed Photography.
The International Federation of Journalists underscored that Lallican’s death marks a chilling first – a journalist allegedly killed in Ukraine by a drone strike. The Committee to Protect Journalists has documented the deaths of at least 18 media workers in Ukraine through various violent encounters. Reporters Without Borders emphasized the grim reality that a high toll of press workers, including four French journalists, have succumbed to the conflict.
Sergiy Tomilenko, president of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), argued that these incidents illustrate a purposeful strategy by Russia to suppress journalistic voices reporting on alleged war crimes. This troubling trend of increasing journalist fatalities has been echoed by UNESCO, describing the situation as “unsettling” in December 2024. According to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, the role of reliable information is indispensable in conflict scenarios to support affected populations and inform the global community.
Further details can be found on JURIST, addressing the broader implications of Lallican’s death as both a humanitarian loss and a significant element in the ongoing narrative of media safety amid conflicts.