Deceased journalist Roshchyna held in Russian detention center known for brutal torture

This was reported by Tetiana Katrichenko, executive director of the NGO Media Initiative for Human Rights.

Roshchyna was detained twice. After her second detention, her whereabouts were unknown for a long time. However, in the spring of 2024, Russia acknowledged her detention.

According to Katrichenko, Roshchyna was held in at least two places: penal colony No. 77 in Berdiansk and pre-trial detention center No. 2 in Taganrog, Rostov region. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, both locations have been used to detain Ukrainian military personnel and civilians, including women.

"Taganrog (and Berdiansk as well) is known for its brutal treatment of detainees. It's often described as hell on earth. In particular, soldiers from Azovstal are held in Taganrog. Those who have been released report horrific torture. Detainees are pressured to confess to crimes and incriminate themselves before being transferred to Rostov for trial," the human rights activist said.

She noted that the Ukrainian journalist was held in Taganrog from at least May to September 2024, and she was kept in solitary confinement.

"On the eve of the exchange, on September 13, 2024, Roshchyna and at least one other woman from Melitopol were taken out of Taganrog. It’s unclear where they were taken," Katrychenko said.

According to the Media Initiative for Human Rights, the guards at the Taganrog detention center use three main forms of torture: a rubber baton, a wooden hammer, and stun guns. Former prisoners have reported this to human rights activists.

"There was a man in the cell with me. He was taken for interrogation every day. The Abkhazians said they would beat him until he signed a confession. They drowned him in water, threw a rag on his face and poured water over him. In the end, he signed everything,” said one of the ex-prisoners, whose name is not disclosed for security reasons.

"We heard screams all the time - someone was always being beaten somewhere. Sometimes the screams would go on for 15-20 minutes, and then a person would be thrown into a cell almost unconscious," said another former prisoner.

What is known about the death of Victoriia Roshchyna

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Viktoriia 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 - according to her, she was captured on her way to Mariupol. She said she was held for a week in Berdiansk.

In October 2023, it was reported that Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia 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 Viktoriia Roshchyna, who disappeared in the temporarily occupied territories in August last year, in captivity.

Ukrainian journalist Victoriia Roshchyna, who was taken prisoner by Russia, has died. Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said that he had received documentary evidence of the death of the journalist from the Russian side.