Ukraine brings back body of journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna tortured in Russian captivity, official says

Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement by Yurii Belousov, head of the war crimes department at the Prosecutor General's Office.

The body of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who died after torture in Russian captivity, was brought back to Ukraine in late February, Deputy Interior Minister Leonid Tymchenko said in an interview with Censor.net published on April 24.

"She was identified through DNA testing," Tymchenko said.

Roshchyna, 27, disappeared in August 2023 while reporting from Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories, with Moscow admitting her detention the following year.

Ukrainian officials confirmed Roshchyna's death on Oct. 10, 2024, but said that the circumstances were still under investigation. Russia did not hand over her body for about five months.

According to Russia, Roshchyna died on Sept. 19, 2024.

Yurii Belousov, head of the war crimes department at the Prosecutor General's Office, said the condition of the journalist's body made it impossible to determine the exact cause of death.

"At the same time, numerous signs of torture and ill-treatment were found on the victim's body," Belousov said during a briefing in Kyiv on April 24.

The Media Initiative for Human Rights, a Ukrainian NGO, reported that Roshchyna had been held in at least two notorious Russian prisons: the penal colony n. 77 in Berdiansk in occupied Ukraine and the detention center n. 2 in Russia's Taganrog.

Both facilities are known for the use of torture against prisoners.

Roshchyna was tortured with electric shocks while in Russian captivity, Ukrainian investigative journalism outlet Slidstvo.Info reported in early March, citing an unnamed witness in the Taganrog detention center.

There were also cuts on Roshchyna's arms after interrogations, the witness said. The journalist lost weight and weighed up to 30 kilograms, according to the source.

Previously, in March 2022, Roshchyna was detained for 10 days by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers while leaving Berdiansk in the direction of Mariupol. As a condition of her release, she was forced to record a video saying Russian forces had saved her life.

Although Roshchyna's body is said to have been returned in late February, Ukrainian journalists said in March that her body had not yet been retrieved at the time.

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, a lawmaker and chair of the parliamentary committee on freedom of speech, said on April 24 that the body's return was not announced for so long due to uncertainty about the identity.

"Given the torture and the condition of her body, Roshchyna's family requested not one, but several DNA examinations," Yurchyshyn wrote on Facebook. "As far as I know, the examinations were carried out not only in Ukraine but also abroad to ensure that it was Viktoriia."

Journalist Viktoria Roshchyna receives posthumous human rights award

Roshchyna, who died last fall in Russian captivity, received the Homo Homini award for her “work dedicated to portraying issues threatening the democratic order of Ukraine, which she did not compromise on, even at the risk of her personal safety.”

The Kyiv IndependentAbbey Fenbert