The plane carrying the remains of Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff landed on the tarmac at Le Bourget airport around 3 a.m. on Thursday June 9, according to BFMTV. Members of his family, relatives and Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak received the black-draped coffin of the 32-year-old journalist, killed on May 30 in eastern Ukraine by shrapnel. The two people who teamed up with Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff in Ukraine for BFMTV, reporter Maxime Brandstaetter and Ukrainian journalist-translator Oksana Leuta, for their part returned to France on June 3.
Late Wednesday morning, his colleagues from the continuous news channel had observed a minute of silence in memory of the journalist. A tribute will also be paid to him on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Place de la République in Paris, at the call of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in particular. His family, friends and colleagues will be present.
Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia at the end of February, at least eight journalists have died in the field in the exercise of their profession, according to a count by RSF (Reporters Without Borders). This is the second French journalist to die in Ukraine, more than two months after the disappearance of Franco-Irish Pierre Zakrzewski.
