EU Commission: Russia displays brutality in killing of Ukrainian journalist

This was stated by European Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper during a briefing in Brussels on April 30, as reported by Ukrinform.  

"Russia does not miss any opportunity to demonstrate its unspeakable cruelty toward Ukrainians, killing and torturing them, as seen in the case of Viktoria Roshchyna, a brave Ukrainian journalist who was not only brutally killed but also tortured beforehand. This clearly shows that life under Russian occupation is not a safe option for Ukrainians," she said.  

"This journalist and her bravery will always remain in our memory. We will do everything in our power to ensure Russia’s accountability for all the war crimes and atrocities it has committed," Hipper added.  

What is known about Viktoria Roshchyna’s death 

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Victoria Roshchyna worked for the Hromadske outlet and wrote reports from the temporarily occupied territories.  

On March 7, 2022, she came across a battalion of Russian tanks that fired at her car. A week later, the Russian military detained her in the village of Vasylivka, but the journalist managed to escape. On March 11, 2022, Roshchyna was again captured by the Russian FSB. She said that she was held for a week in Berdiansk.

In October 2023, it became known that Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who received an award for her reporting on the war in Ukraine, disappeared in the temporarily occupied territories. Her family and friends reported that they had lost contact with her since August 3, 2023. 

In May 2024, Russia admitted that it was holding Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who disappeared in the temporarily occupied territories in August last year, captive. On October 10, it became known that Roshchyna had died. Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said that he had received documentary evidence of the journalist's death from the Russian side.

Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office opened a war crime proceeding combined with premeditated murder. According to human rights activists, journalist Roshchina was held in a detention center known for the most brutal torture.

On October 11, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine reclassified the criminal proceedings into a war crime combined with premeditated murder.

The European parliamentarians demand an independent investigation as soon as possible to find out all the circumstances of the journalist's death in Russian captivity.

On March 3, journalists found out that Roshchyna had been brutally tortured in Russian captivity, with stab wounds on her body.

On April 24, Victoria Roshchyna's body was returned to Ukraine.