The Fate of Viktoriia Roshchyna: Russia’s Torture and Killing of a Ukrainian Journalist

November 29, 2024 – Russia/Ukraine –

Ukrainska Pravda freelance writer Viktoriia Roshchyna, aged 27, disappeared on August 3, 2023, while reporting in occupied Zaporizhzhia for stories on Russian-held prisons. Russia officially confirmed her detention in May 2024 and notified her family of her death in October 2024—but only after months of silence.

Investigations by Forbidden Stories, Ukrainska Pravda, The Guardian, and others revealed that Roshchyna was secretly moved through a series of facilities: from Melitopol to Taganrog’s SIZO-2 prison, without access to lawyers or family, and out of official records.

When her body was repatriated in February 2025, it bore signs of systematic torture: broken ribs, severe bruising consistent with electric shocks, scalp abrasions, a broken hyoid bone (indicative of strangulation), and missing organs, suggesting deliberate concealment of the cause of death.

Her death was confirmed during a prisoner exchange covering 757 remains returned by Russia. Viktoriia had been labeled as “unnamed male #757” in Russian records, highlighting the clandestine and brutal treatment she endured.

Colleagues described her as relentless; editor Sevgil Musayeva said Roshchyna “was obsessed with work” and “a mission… to convey the truth,” filling information voids about detention centers in occupied zones. Her latest mission included identifying “ghost detainees” and exposing torture networks.

Her detention—mysterious and hidden—involves at least 50 interviews, testimonies from survivors and former guards, and a forensic investigation. The severity of her torture and the manner of her burial have prompted a war crimes investigation by Ukrainian authorities.

Roshchyna’s death underscores a growing pattern of Russian war crimes: targeting Ukrainian journalists, especially those uncovering state abuses. Russia has killed 102 journalists and media workers in Ukraine since February 2022, according to the EU Ambassador. Her case exemplifies a horrifying convergence of aerial war, occupation policy, and media suppression.

As the international journalistic and legal community intensifies demands for accountability, Viktoriia’s legacy endures in her commitment to reporting the hidden atrocities of war. Her death is a chilling statement on the costs of bearing witness under occupation—and a stark call to uphold protections for those who risk everything to reveal the truth.

Reference –

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/11/29/7486916/