Michael Mainville has been AFP’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director since April 2023, based in Hong Kong. He was previously bureau chief for four years in Moscow, where he managed the agency’s operations across the former Soviet Union and oversaw coverage of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. He has worked at AFP since 2007, including as desk chief and deputy chief editor for the Middle East and North Africa, Paris-based France reporter and international correspondent, and Tbilisi-based Caucasus correspondent, covering stories including the Syrian and Libyan civil wars, international peace talks and summits, and the 2008 Georgia-Russia conflict. A graduate of Carleton University’s School of Journalism in Ottawa, he started his career as a crime and city hall reporter for the Montreal Gazette.