A French journalist was killed in eastern Ukraine Monday when the humanitarian operation he was covering came under fire, his news outlet said.

Frédéric Leclerc-Imhof, 32, was “covering a humanitarian operation in an armored vehicle” for French broadcaster BFM TV when he was hit by shrapnel near Severodonetsk, the outlet said.

The city has been the site of intense fighting in recent days as Russian troops try to take the last Ukrainian positions in the Luhansk oblast.

Serhiy Haidai, governor of the Luhansk Oblast, said on Telegram Monday that an evacuation mission had been hit by Russian artillery fire.

“Today our armored evacuation vehicle was going to pick up 10 people from the area and came under enemy fire. Shrapnel from shells pierced the vehicle’s armor, fatally wounding an accredited French journalist in the neck who was reporting on the evacuation,” he wrote.

Haidai added that a Ukrainian military officer present was saved by his helmet.

A second french journalist was injured in the attack, according to Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko, as well as a Ukrainian woman accompanying them.

French President Emmanuel Macron paid his respects to Leclerc-Imhoff on Twitter.

“Journalist Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff was in Ukraine to show the reality of the war. On board a humanitarian bus, alongside civilians forced to flee to escape Russian bombs, he was fatally shot,” Macron wrote.

“I share the pain of the family, relatives and colleagues of Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, to whom I send my condolences. To those who carry out the difficult mission of informing in theaters of operations, I would like to reiterate France’s unconditional support,” he added.

With Post wires