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Law enforcement officers have reclassified the criminal proceedings initiated after the disappearance of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna. Following information about her death in the Russian Federation, the case is now classified as a war crime combined with intentional murder.
This was reported by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Victoria Roshchyna disappeared on August 3, 2023, in the temporarily occupied territories. In May 2024, Russia confirmed for the first time that she was being held captive.
In March 2022, Roshchyna had also been detained by Russian security forces while preparing materials on military operations in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions. She had planned to reach Mariupol to document the reality of daily shelling by Russian troops. After 10 days in captivity, she was released.
Before her capture, Roshchyna worked as a journalist for Hromadske for many years. After her release in March 2022, she continued writing for various Ukrainian media outlets.
In the spring and summer of 2022, she worked as a freelance writer for Hromadske Radio, and later published articles in «Ukrainian Pravda» and «Radio Svoboda.» In 2022, she received the International Women’s Media Foundation’s «Courage in Journalism» award.
Her father learned of her death through an official letter from the Russian side, though at that time the information was still being verified. People’s Deputy Yaroslav Yurchyshyn reported on Hromadske Radio that Roshchyna had previously declared a hunger strike due to inhumane treatment.
Petro Yatsenko, a representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, also confirmed Roshchyna’s death. It is known that she was being prepared for a prisoner exchange.
According to Yatsenko, the exact circumstances of her death are still under investigation. He confirmed that Roshchyna was being prepared for exchange, but «unfortunately, we ran out of time.»
«The fact that she was being transferred from Taganrog to Moscow was part of her preparation for release,» he said.
Former prisoner of the «DPR,» volunteer, and public figure Lyudmila Huseynova reported that Roshchyna died on September 19. According to her, Roshchyna’s body will be returned to Ukraine during the next exchange of bodies.
The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, confirmed that he had received official documentation from the Russian side regarding Roshchyna’s death.
«I have official documentary confirmation from the Russian side about the death of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who was illegally deprived of her freedom by Russia. My sincere condolences to Victoria’s family and friends,» he wrote.
Lubinets added that the cause of Roshchyna’s death in Russian captivity remains unknown.
He also informed the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross to officially record the death of a civilian illegally detained by the Russian Federation.