France has posthumously awarded the French photojournalist Antoni Lallican, who was killed in a targeted Russian drone strike on 3 October 2025, with the Legion of Honour – the country’s highest state award, Reporters Without Borders reported in an X post.
“Those responsible for these crimes [the murder of reporters in Ukraine by Russian forces] must be identified & prosecuted,” the watchdog sterssed.
Previously
French photojournalist Antoni Lallican was killed in a targeted Russian FPV drone strike in Komyshuvakha, Donetsk oblast, on 3 October 2025. His colleague, Ukrainian photojournalist Heorhiy Ivanchenko, was severely wounded and had to have his leg amputated.
Ukrainian prosecutors opened an investigation into Antoni Lallican’s murder and the maiming of Heorhiy Ivanchenko on the same day.
On 5 October, France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) opened a war crimes investigation into the 3 October drone strike by Russian troops in Ukraine’s Donetsk oblast, which killed the French journalist and photographer Antoni Lallican and severely wounded Ukrainian journalist Heorhiy Ivanchenko.
Antoni Lallican was a Paris-based photojournalist who covered social issues in conflict zones around the world. He arrived in Ukraine in March 2022, right after Russia’s full-scale invasion. He has been documenting the impact of the war since then and has been working long-term with Donetsk oblast locals.
His pictures have been featured in prominent French news outlets such as Le Monde, Le Figaro, Libération, Mediapart, Society, Paris Match, Les Echos Week End, La Viе, as well as international publications: Der Spiegel, Zeit, FAZ, NZZ, Focus Magazin, Die Welt, Stern, TAZ, Le Temps, Der Standard, La Presse, etc.
