A Ukrainian journalist who was captured by Moscow while reporting from occupied east Ukraine has died in Russian detention, a Ukrainian official said Thursday.
Victoria Roshchyna, who would have turned 28 this month, disappeared in August last year after travelling to Russian-held east Ukraine for a report.
Russian news outlet Mediazona reported she died while being transferred to Moscow from a prison in Taganrog, near the Ukrainian border.
Ukraine said in May more than two dozen Ukrainian media officials were being held in Russian captivity and that negotiations on their return were underway.
In 2022, she was awarded the Courage in Journalism award by the International Women’s Media Foundation for her reporting from east Ukraine.
According to a Ukrainian official on Thursday, a journalist from Ukraine who was apprehended by Moscow while covering events in occupied east Ukraine has passed away in Russian custody.
This month marks Victoria Roshchyna’s 28th birthday. She vanished in August of last year after visiting east Ukraine, which is occupied by Russia, for a report.
She was reported missing in April 2024, and the main journalist union in Ukraine said that her father received a letter from Moscow’s defense ministry stating that she was being held in Russian custody.
It was unclear where she was being held inside Russia and the specifics of her arrest were not disclosed to the public.
On Thursday, Petro Yatsenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian prison of war coordination headquarters, stated, “Unfortunately, information about Victoria’s death has been confirmed.”.
“We are working to establish the circumstances of the death; it is too early to talk about them,” he continued.
The Ukrainian National Union of Journalists denounced the murder and demanded an expedited probe in a social media post.
The group said, “We implore the international community to intensify pressure on Russia to release all Ukrainian journalists who are being held illegally by the occupiers.”.
She passed away while being moved from a prison in Taganrog, close to the Ukrainian border, to Moscow, according to a report by the Russian news agency Mediazona.
Since Russia’s invasion began in 2022, thousands of Ukrainians who opposed Moscow’s rule have been imprisoned in occupied territories; many of them suffer torture at the hands of security forces, according to rights organizations.
Media outlet BBC Russia revealed in January 2024 that thousands of civilians from Ukraine, including journalists, were being detained in Russian custody without being charged or given access to legal representation.
In May, Ukraine announced that talks were in progress to bring back more than twenty Ukrainian media officials who were being held captive in Russia.
Roshchyna assisted the Ukrainian service of the United States while working as a freelance journalist for a number of independent news organizations, such as Ukrainska Pravda. s. -supported the media organization Radio Free Europe.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Roshchina was held by Russian forces for ten days in March 2022 while conducting reporting in the southeast region of Ukraine.
The International Women’s Media Foundation honored her with the Courage in Journalism award in 2022 for her reporting from eastern Ukraine.
