Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna dies in Russian detention
A Ukrainian journalist who was captured by Russian forces while reporting in occupied eastern Ukraine has died in Russian detention, Ukrainian officials announced. Victoria Roshchyna disappeared in August 2023 after travelling to the region for a report.
Her fate remained unknown until April 2024, when her father received a letter from Russia’s Defence ministry confirming she was being detained. However, the exact circumstances of her arrest and her location within Russia were never made public.
“Unfortunately, information about Victoria’s death has been confirmed,” Petro Yatsenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s prisoner of war coordination headquarters, said on Thursday. “It is too early to talk about the circumstances of the death – we are working to establish them.”
According to press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders, Roshchyna’s father received a letter from the Russian Defence ministry last week, which said she had died on 19 September.
Roshchyna, a freelance journalists, had worked with various independent media outlets, including Ukrainska Pravda and Radio Free Europe’s Ukrainian service. In 2022, she received the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation for her reporting from eastern Ukraine.
Earlier this year, Ukraine reported that more than two dozen Ukrainian media personnel were being held in Russian captivity, with negotiations for their release ongoing.
Victoria Roshchyna documented the siege of Mariupol in 2022 © PHOTO ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP
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