Ukraine investigating reports of journalist Viktoria Roshchyna’s torture in Russian captivity

He made this statement following the presentation of the documentary Return. Heroes on the Shield, as reported by Espreso correspondent Nataliia Starepravo.

“Ukraine is doing everything possible to establish the truth. If this information is confirmed, we will undoubtedly seek to recover the body. I cannot provide any more details at this time,” Yusov said.

He also commented on whether Russia had attempted to deceive Ukraine regarding the transfer of bodies.

“Even delaying the transfer of the body can already be considered a manipulation. The longer the body remains in different conditions, the harder it becomes to determine the circumstances of death and conditions of detention,” explained the Deputy Head of the Coordination Headquarters on the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

What is known about Viktoria Roshchyna’s death

At the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Viktoria Roshchyna worked for Hromadske and reported from temporarily occupied territories.

On March 7, 2022, she encountered a battalion of Russian tanks that fired at her car. A week later, Russian soldiers detained her in the village of Vasylivka, but she managed to escape. On March 11, 2022, Roshchyna was captured again by Russia’s FSB. She later reported that she had been held in Berdyansk for a week.

In October 2023, it was reported that Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who had received awards for her war reporting in Ukraine, had gone missing in temporarily occupied territories. Her family and friends stated that they had lost contact with her on August 3, 2023.

In May 2024, Russia officially acknowledged that they were holding Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna in captivity after she had disappeared in occupied territories in August of the previous year. On October 10, it was reported that Roshchyna had died. Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets confirmed that he had received documentary proof of the journalist’s death from the Russian side.

The Prosecutor General’s Office opened an investigation into a war crime combined with intentional murder. According to human rights organizations, Roshchyna was held in a detention center notorious for its brutal torture.

On October 11, the Prosecutor General’s Office reclassified the criminal case regarding Roshchyna’s disappearance as a war crime combined with intentional murder.

Members of the European Parliament are demanding an independent investigation as soon as possible to determine the circumstances of the journalist’s death in Russian captivity.

On March 3, journalists discovered that Roshchyna had been brutally tortured in Russian captivity—her body bore stab wounds.