France FM Le Drian urges protection for journalists in Russia-Ukraine conflict

France on Wednesday called for the protection of journalists covering Russia’s war in Ukraine, following the deaths of a Fox News cameraman and a Ukrainian producer near Kyiv.

“I recall the obligation incumbent on armed forces to protect journalists in line with international humanitarian law,” Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement.

“I condemn any action targeting them with the greatest firmness,” he said, adding that “these events illustrate the extreme danger in the Ukrainian theatre today.”

Fox News said Tuesday that French-Irish cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova died and correspondent Benjamin Hall was wounded when their vehicle was struck Monday by incoming fire in Horenka, outside the Ukrainian capital.

Le Drian singled out Zakrzewski as someone “who covered a great number of theatres of war as a passionate fighter for the right to inform.”

“I address my sincerest condolences to his and to Oleksandra Kuvshynova’s families,” he added.

The minister also recalled the names of other journalists killed in the three weeks of conflict so far, including US documentary maker Brent Renaud and Ukrainian journalist Evgeny Sakun.

The Ukrainian parliament’s human rights chief Lyudmyla Denisova said Tuesday that another Ukrainian journalist, Viktor Dudar, was killed in fighting around the southern port city of Mykolaiv.