Investigations into the death of journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna have unveiled that her body was returned to her homeland devoid of internal organs.
Her disappearance occurred soon after the onset of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022, following her assignment to report from the occupied city of Berdiansk on the unfolding war.
Viktoriia was employed by a Ukrainian media outlet, which reported that she was detained by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).
At the time, the broadcaster stated via social media: “Our journalist Victoria Roshchyna is held captive by the Russian occupiers. She was reporting from hotspots in Eastern and Southern Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
“On March 12, we couldn’t contact Victoria.”
Initially captured by a soldier and handed over to FSB agents, she was released after public outrage. However, this was not her last encounter with Russian forces, and she vanished again in August 2023.
Her whereabouts remained unclear until April 2024 when it was confirmed by The Guardian that she was again held captive.
Viktoriia, unfortunately, passed away in captivity in September of the previous year at the age of 27.
Reports suggest she was subjected to torture while imprisoned, and her body was subsequently returned to Ukraine. She remains the only known Ukrainian journalist to have died in Russian captivity, according to Forbidden Stories.
Her body was one of the 757 reported to have been sent back from Russia to Ukraine in February.
A joint media report, cited by CBS News, indicated that Viktoriia’s body exhibited ‘signs of torture and some organs removed, possibly to hide further traces of torture’.
Yuriy Belousov, leading the War Crimes Unit at Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s office, commented: “The forensic examination revealed numerous signs of torture and ill-treatment on the victim’s body, including abrasions and haemorrhages on various parts of the body, a broken rib, neck injuries, and possible electric shock marks on her feet.”
He further noted that her body was returned to Ukraine ‘with signs of an autopsy that was performed before arrival in Ukraine’.
It was reported by The Independent that she died during transfer from a detention center in Taganrog, southern Russia, to Moscow.
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