Ukrainian journalist who exposed Russian occupation dies in Kremlin captivity
A Ukrainian journalist who sought to document the Russian occupation of her country has died in Kremlin captivity. The family of award-winning journalist Victoria Roshchyna received notification of her death from the Russian authorities in early October. No cause of death was given, with reports indicating that she died in mid-September while being moved between Russian prisons. She was just twenty-seven years old.
Roshchyna, who had worked as a freelance reporter for outlets including Ukrainska Pravda, Hromadske, and Radio Free Europe, was renowned among colleagues for her integrity and personal courage. “She was a hardworking and brave reporter, sensitive to injustice,” commented former colleague Olga Tokariuk.
Roshchyna was best known for her reporting from behind the front lines in Russian-occupied Ukraine. She was first detained by Russian forces in March 2022 close to Mariupol. On that occasion, she was held for ten days before being released. Despite this experience, Roshchyna remained committed to raising awareness about conditions in Ukrainian regions under Kremlin control. She disappeared in summer 2023 while on a reporting trip to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine. Almost one year later, Kremlin officials confirmed that Roshchyna was in Russian custody.
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News of Roshchyna’s death sparked an outpouring of grief and anger in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called her death “a heavy blow.” Ukrainska Pravda chief editor Sevgil Musaieva led tributes from the journalistic community, decribing Roshchyna as “absolutely amazing” and recounting her commitment to reporting on the realities of life under Russian occupation.
Oksana Romaniuk, executive director of the Ukrainian Institute of Mass Information, said the circumstances of Roshchyna’s death “makes you worry about other journalists who are in captivity.” Ukraine’s 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk called on international media watchdogs to demand answers from Russia over Roshchyna’s death. “What could have been done to make a young girl die?” she asked in one of many posts on Ukrainian social media mourning Roshchyna.
Members of the international community stressed the need to determine Russia’s role in the young Ukrainian journalist’s death. “We must honor her legacy by holding her captors accountable,” commented Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty CEO Steve Capus. National Press Club President Emily Wilkins called on the US to impose sanctions “against all Russian personnel involved.”
The European Union Delegation to Ukraine demanded a “thorough and independent investigation” into the circumstances of the journalist’s death in Russian detention. Meanwhile, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Senator Cardin said Roshchyna’s death was “heartbreaking” and served as a reminder of her bravery “reporting the truth about Russia’s war on Ukraine.”
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According to the Russian authorities, Roshchyna died while being transferred to Moscow from a detention facility in Taganrog that is particularly notorious among Ukrainian human rights groups for the widespread mistreatment of Ukrainian prisoners. Ukrainian officials say they are now investigating her death as a war crime and an act of premeditated murder.
The death of Victoria Roshchyna in Russian custody highlights the dangers facing independent journalists attempting to cover the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to Petro Yatsenko of the Ukrainian Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Roshchyna was one of at least twenty-five Ukrainian journalists being held by Russia.
While the details regarding Roshchyna’s death have yet to be determined, she was known to be in good health prior to her detention. The journalist is one of many Ukrainian prisoners to have died in Russian custody since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022 amid reports of widespread human rights abuses. The vast majority of Ukrainians released in prisoner exchanges have recounted being subjected to torture by their Russian captors.
The US Department of State’s 2023 Human Rights Report confirmed Russia’s use of “systematic torture and abuse against thousands of captured Ukrainian military POWs and detained civilians.” In a September 2024 report, United Nations human rights officials stated that “torture has been used as a common and acceptable practice by Russian authorities” against Ukrainian detainees.
Over the past two and a half years, thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been abducted from Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine and imprisoned. Ukraine’s Media Initiative organization has compiled a list of 1,886 names, but the actual number of detainees is believed to be far higher. In the vast majority of cases, family members and colleagues have no information regarding the status of those being held by Russia.
Victoria Roshchyna was an inspirational figure to her colleagues in the media and a widely respected journalist who sought to give a voice to Ukrainian victims of Russian occupation. Her death serves as a chilling reminder of the war crimes currently being committed against the civilian population throughout Russian-occupied Ukraine.
Mercedes Sapuppo is a program assistant at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.
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The views expressed in UkraineAlert are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.
The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia and Central Asia in the East.
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Image: Khrystyna Kotsira, the editor-in-chief of Ukrainian news outlet Hromadske, speaks to the press during a commemorative event for Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna who died in Russian captivity. Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna went missing on August 3, 2023, during a trip to Russian-occupied territories. On July 27, 2023, she left Ukraine for Poland and was scheduled to reach occupied areas in eastern Ukraine (via Russia) within three days. In April 2024, Russia confirmed Viktoria Roshchyna’s unlawful detention for the first time. On October 10, Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech head Yaroslav Yurchyshyn announced on his Facebook page that Viktoria’s father had received notification of his daughter’s death, which had occurred on September 19. Russian authorities officially informed that the death of the Ukrainian journalist happened during a transfer from Taganrog to Moscow. A representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War confirmed Viktoria Roshchyna’s death in Russian captivity. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the case initially opened for Roshchyna’s disappearance has been reclassified as a murder investigation. Where: Kyiv, Ukraine When: 11 Oct 2024 Credit: Ukrinform/Cover Images **UK AND USA RIGHTS ONLY**
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