Ukrainian journalist who went missing a year ago dies in Russian detention, Kiev confirms

Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who went missing over a year ago, has died in Russian detention, CNN reported. The 27-year-old disappeared in August 2022 during a reporting mission from a Russian-controlled area in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said Moscow informed Ms Roshchyna’s family of her detention in April this year, long after her capture. The family remained in the dark about her fate for months.

“I have official documentation from the Russian side confirming the death of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who was illegally deprived of her liberty by Russia,” Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said in a statement.

According to a statement from the spokesperson of the European Commission delegation to Ukraine, she is “the thirteenth journalist to be murdered since the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine.” The statement further noted that Ms. Roshchyna, a recipient of the Courage in Journalism Award, was “determined to bring the truth about Russia’s brutal war of aggression and illegal occupation of Ukraine to the world.”

Ms Roshchyna’s fellow journalists said she had traveled to the Russian-occupied territory to report on the plight of people living under the occupation. Her colleagues believe she was murdered by Russian officials.

“We have every reason to believe that her death was either the result of a deliberate killing or the result of the cruel treatment and violence to which she was subjected during her time in Russian captivity,” said a statement from Ukrainian media professionals, published on the internet. several Ukrainian outlets.

The statement noted that Ms. Roshchyna was in good health before her captivity over a year ago. The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office launched an investigation and treated her death as both a war crime and a premeditated murder.

Evgeniya Motorevskaya, who previously worked with Ms. Roshchyna at the Ukrainian media company Hromadske, remembered her as a journalist who was deeply committed to her profession. In a statement published on Hromadske’s website, she said, using Ms. Roshchyna’s nickname: “For her, there was nothing more important than journalism. Vika was always the place where the most important events for the country took place. And she would have kept this up for many years, but the Russians killed her.”

Petro Yatsenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, said Ms Roshchyna was one of about 25 Ukrainian journalists currently held in Russian captivity, while several others were reported missing.

Russian authorities reportedly told Ukrainian officials that Ms. Roshchyna died while being transferred from a detention center in Taganrog, a city in southern Russia, to Moscow. The transfer is said to be part of preparations for her release in the context of a prisoner exchange.

According to the CNN report, the Taganrog detention center is known for its harsh conditions. Tetyana Katrychenko, a representative of the Media Initiative for Human Rights, described it in a statement as “hell on earth.” She confirmed that Victoria Roshchyna was held there at least from May to September 2024, when she was subjected to solitary confinement.