Award-winning Ukrainian journalist dies in Russian captivity, Kyiv says

Caption

Signs and pictures of those killed, including journalists, are displayed on a fence during a protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Lafayette Park near the White House on March 13, 2022, in Washington. / AP

Victoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist held captive by Russia for more than a year, died while in Russian detention, Ukrainian officials confirmed Thursday.

Petro Yatsenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Prisoners of War Coordination Headquarters, told Ukrainian television that the circumstances surrounding Roshchyna’s death were still unclear.

“It is too early to talk about the circumstances of the death, we are working to establish them,” Yatsenko said.

According to a statement from the press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, Roshchyna’s family received a letter on Thursday from Russia’s Defense Ministry informing them that she died on Sept. 19.

Roshchyna, who would have turned 28 this month, was one of 20 Ukrainian journalists detained by Russia for their reporting since the start of Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, according to RSF.

She was known for her features documenting daily life in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, went missing on Aug. 3, 2023, while traveling on assignment to the Russian-occupied town of Zaporizhzhia, according to the International Women's Media Foundation. Her whereabouts were unknown for eight months until Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed her detention in April 2024.

“The Russian authorities have never provided any information about her detention, despite repeated requests from her family, the Ukrainian authorities, and RSF,” said Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Desk. She added: [Russia] must shed light on all the circumstances surrounding her detention and death. Our thoughts and support go out to her loved ones.”

On social media, friends and colleagues expressed shock, with some also demanding more answers from Russia about Roshchyna’s death.

“I have a question. What did they do with her? What could have been done to a young girl to make her die?” Oleksandra Matviichuk, the head of the nonprofit Center for Civil Liberties Ukraine wrote on X. “I call on all journalistic organizations from different countries to officially demand an answer from Russia.”

Nataliya Gumenyuk, a Ukrainian journalist and former colleague of Roshchyna's, remembered her as "the bravest, the most determined, adding "she risked to tell the truth about occupation."

According to the independent Russian news outlet Mediazona, Roshchyna died while she was in the process of being transferred from a prison in Taganrog, near the Ukrainian border, to Moscow.

Roshchyna was the winner of the 2022 Courage in Journalism award from the International Women's Media Foundation, or IWMF. In a statement, the IWMF said it was "devastated" to learn of Roshchyna's death.

"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."