Russia has returned the body of a Ukrainian journalist who was captured in occupied east Ukraine and later died in Russian custody, a Ukrainian lawmaker said Thursday.
Victoria Roshchyna, who died at age 27, disappeared in August 2023 on a reporting trip to the Moscow-held part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region after travelling via Russian territory.
She remained missing until April 2024, when her father received a letter from Moscow's defense ministry saying she was being held in Russian detention.
The circumstances of her arrest were not made public and Russia did not explain her death, first reported in October 2024.
People hold portraits of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna during a commemoration for Roshchyna who died in Russian captivity, on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) on October 11, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
"Victoria Roshchyna's body is in Ukraine. The journalist's body was returned as part of an exchange at the end of February," Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Yurchyshyn said Thursday.
Officials chose not to reveal her body had been returned until they were absolutely certain it was her, Yurchyshyn said.
"Given the torture and the condition of the body, Roshchyna's family requested not one, but several DNA examinations," he added.
A joint investigation by Reporters Without Borders and Ukrainian investigative news outlet Slidstva found that she was arrested in Energodar in southern Ukraine, and later held for several weeks in the Russian-held city of Melitopol.
From there, she was transferred to a jail in the Russian port city of Taganrog. The investigation said she stopped eating in prison and had "knife wounds" on her body, according to her cellmate.
Russia does not typically comment on the treatment of individual prisoners but says it investigates instances of torture in its penal system.
Thousands of Ukrainians opposed to Moscow's rule have been detained in occupied territories since Russia's invasion in 2022, many of whom face torture at the hands of security forces, according to rights groups. Last year, BBC Russia reported that thousands of Ukrainian civilians, including journalists, in Russian custody were being held without charges or access to legal counsel.
Roshchyna worked as a freelancer for various independent news outlets, including Ukrainska Pravda, and had collaborated with the Ukrainian service of US-funded media outlet Radio Free Europe.
In March 2022, Roshchina was detained by Russian forces for 10 days while reporting in southeastern Ukraine, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
In 2022, she was awarded the Courage in Journalism award by the International Women's Media Foundation for her reporting from east Ukraine.
"Victoria's passing is not just the loss of a remarkable woman, but of an intrepid witness to history," the group said in a statement after her death. "Regardless of her cause of death, we can say with certainty that her life was taken because she dared tell the truth. We hope her death will not be in vain: the international community must pressure Russia to cease targeting journalists and silencing press freedom."
The Committee to Protect Journalists also condemned Moscow for Roshchina's death.
"Responsibility for her death lies with the Russian authorities, who detained her for daring to report the truth on the Russia-Ukraine war," CPJ's Europe and Central Asia program coordinator said in a statement. "Ukrainian and Russian authorities must do everything in their power to investigate Roshchina's death."
More