A tribute to journalist Arman Soldin killed in Ukraine

France's anti-terrorism prosecutor's office has opened a war crimes investigation into the death of Arman Soldin, a French journalist who was killed on Tuesday last week while reporting from the war zone in eastern Ukraine.

Soldin was barely a year old when his mother carried him onto a humanitarian flight from war-torn Bosnia to France.

His colleague Dave Clark says Ukraine had become Soldin's new passion. According to Clark, he was an optimistic person and is remembered by many of his friends as a sunny, curious and extrovert human being.

In this essay for Weekend, Clark also outlines the key role journalists play in covering conflicts.