Ukrainian Journalist Has Died in Russian Captivity, Ukraine Says
Viktoria Roshchina, a Ukrainian journalist who went missing in August 2023 while reporting from territories occupied by Moscow’s forces, has died in Russian custody, Ukrainian officials said.Ms.Roshchina, 27, had reported at great risk from areas in southern Ukraine and had reportedly traveled to eastern Ukraine to document the Russian occupation there.Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, said on Thursday that he had received official documentation from Russia confirming that Ms.
Roshchina had died in captivity, adding that the exact circumstances surrounding her death remain unclear.The Russian authorities have not commented on the reports.The news of her death outraged the international journalism community, with several organizations calling on the Russian authorities to promptly investigate what happened.“Responsibility for her death lies with the Russian authorities, who detained her for daring to report the truth about the Russia-Ukraine war,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement.“Both Ukrainian and Russian authorities must do everything in their power to investigate this tragedy.”Ms.
Roshchina worked as a freelance reporter for several independent Ukrainian publications, including Ukrainska Pravda and Hromadske.She focused on reporting from Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine, including writing about the occupation of Enerhodar, a southern Ukrainian city that is home to a major nuclear power plant now under Russian control.Ms.Roshchina was first arrested by Russian troops in March 2022 while reporting in southeastern Ukraine and was released after 10 days.
She went missing again in August 2023 after traveling to occupied territories in eastern Ukraine.Her whereabouts remained unknown until this spring, when the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed in a letter to her father that she was being held in Russia, according to a report by the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine.The Media Initiative for Human R...