Friday, October 11, 2024

Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna dies in Russian captivity

Johanna Urbancik
Thu 10 October 2024 


Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna dies in Russian captivity


Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna has died in Russian captivity, according to Petro Yatsenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Coordination Centre for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Speaking on Ukrainian television today, Yatsenko confirmed her death, noting that the exact circumstances remain under investigation. Roshchyna would have turned 28 this month.


Roshchyna disappeared in August 2023 while working in Russian-occupied territories. RFE/RL's Ukrainian service reported that she had travelled from Ukraine to Poland on 27 July last year before entering eastern Ukraine. Her last known communication was on 3 August 2023.

In April, Russia's Ministry of Defence informed Roshchyna’s father by letter that she was being held by Russian authorities, although the reasons for her detention were not disclosed. She was one of twenty Ukrainian journalists known to have been detained by Russia for their reporting.
At least 16 journalists have been killed in Russian attacks since 2022


The Kyiv Independent reported that this was not Roshchyna’s first detention. In March 2022, she was held for ten days by Russian FSB officers after leaving Berdians'k for Mariupol. Berdians'k has been under Russian occupation since 27 February 2022. As a condition for her release, she was forced to record a video thanking Russian forces for saving her life.

Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov confirmed to Suspilne that Roshchyna was due to be part of an upcoming prisoner exchange. "Her return had been agreed. The latest information we had was that she had been transferred to Lefortovo prison to prepare for her return home", Yusov said.

Lefortovo, a notorious Moscow prison, subjects inmates to extreme isolation and constant surveillance. The prison’s cells are cramped, with little natural light, and dim bulbs burn around the clock. Prisoners, such as ex-prisoner US journalist Evan Gershkovich, face extreme isolation, often with no news from the outside world and minimal contact with their lawyers.

According to the European Commission, as of 2 October, at least 16 journalists and media workers lost their lives while reporting on Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) states that 19 journalists remain imprisoned in Russia, with the Russian authorities refusing to release any information about them.

Ukraine investigates death of journalist in Russian detention


Reporters Without Borders Thursday demanded Ukrainian freelance journalist Victoria Roshchyna’s death in Russian captivity be investigated. A letter to her family from Russia’s Defense Ministry said she died Sept 19. Photo courtesy International Women's Media Foundation


Updated Fri, October 11, 2024 
By Dan Peleschuk

(Reuters) -Ukraine said on Friday it was investigating the death in Russian captivity of a Ukrainian journalist whose first-hand reports provided a glimpse into life under Russian occupation early in Moscow's invasion.

Viktoria Roshchyna, 27, disappeared in August 2023 after embarking on a reporting trip to occupied eastern Ukraine, and Russia acknowledged last April that she was being held.


Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets confirmed her death on social media late on Thursday in what he condemned as illegal detention. He did not specify the circumstances.

Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine's military intelligence, told the public broadcaster Suspilne that Roshchyna had been on a list of prisoners to be exchanged, and that "everything necessary had been done" for the swap.

She had been due to be transferred to Moscow from the southern city of Taganrog, he said.

The campaign group Reporters Without Borders said Roshchyna had died on Sept. 19, citing a letter that her family received on Thursday from Russia's Defence Ministry.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office said it had updated its war-crime investigation into Roshchyna's disappearance to include murder.

By Friday morning, Russia had not publicly commented on her death.

"What did they do with her? What could have been done to a young girl to make her die?" activist and colleague Oleksandra Matviichuk, a 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, wrote on X.

In a statement on Friday, the European Union demanded "a thorough and independent investigation that clarifies all the circumstances" of Roshchyna's death.

"Her fate is a tragic reminder of the many thousands of persons detained in occupied Ukrainian territories and Russia, as well as the repression imposed by Russian authorities," it said.

REPORTER DOCUMENTED LIFE UNDER RUSSIAN OCCUPATION

Roshchyna's vivid reports documented Moscow's efforts to cement Russian power in parts of occupied eastern and southern Ukraine after the Kremlin's invasion in February 2022.

She also captured the difficulty of daily life in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Russia seized and unilaterally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Roshchyna's articles for outlets such as Ukrainska Pravda and U.S.-funded Radio Liberty included photographs of Russian military hardware and revealed the extent of ruin in Mariupol, the southeastern port city devastated by a months-long Russian assault and siege.

She had been held once before by Russian forces, for 10 days, in southeastern Ukraine in the first weeks of the Kremlin's invasion.

Ukrainska Pravda editor-in-chief Sevgil Musaieva described Roshchyna as "incredibly brave" and committed to revealing the plight of residents under Russian occupation.

"It was impossible to stop her, to hold her back. She was completely dedicated to journalism," Musaieva wrote on Facebook.

(Additional reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Kevin Liffey)


Investigation demanded after Ukrainian journalist dies in Russian captivity

Doug Cunningham
Thu, October 10, 2024

Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Reporters Without Borders on Thursday demanded Ukrainian freelance journalist Victoria Roshchyna's death in Russian captivity be investigated. A letter to her family from Russia's Defense Ministry said she died Sept 19.

She had traveled to Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine to cover the war there and disappeared Aug. 3.

Jeanne Cavelier, head of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Desk of Reporters Without Borders said Thursday in a statement, "RSF mourns the death of Victoria Roshchyna, an independent Ukrainian journalist detained in Russia. The Russian authorities have never provided any information about her detention, despite repeated requests from her family, the Ukrainian authorities, and RSF. They must shed light on all the circumstances surrounding her detention and death. Our thoughts and support go out to her loved ones."

Roshchyna worked for Ukrayinska Pravda, an independent Ukrainian news outlet, Hromadske, and had collaborated with the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe.

The International Women's Media Foundation said in a statement Thursday, "Victoria's passing is not just the loss of a remarkable woman, but of an intrepid witness to history. 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."



According to Reporters Without Borders, roughly 100 journalists, Ukrainian and foreign nationals, have been victims of abuse by Russian occupation forces.

Petro Yatsenko, spokesperson for Ukraine's prisoner of war coordination headquarters, confirmed Roshchyna's death Thursday.

"Unfortunately, information about Victoria's death has been confirmed," he said.

The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine said on Facebook, "NSJU calls for an immediate and thorough international investigation of Russian captivity and the circumstances of the death of journalist Victoria Roshchyna. We urge the world community to step up pressure on Russia to release all Ukrainian journalists who are illegally held by the occupiers."

Her family learned in April that the Russians were holding her.

CBS, citing a report from Russian news outlet Mediazona, said Roshchyna died during her transfer from a prison in Taganrog near Ukraine's border.

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