Russians do not hand over the body of journalist Viktoria Roshchina

The body of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriya Roshchyna, who died in captivity on the territory of the Russian Federation, has not been returned to Ukraine yet. It was supposed to be handed over during the next repatriation of Ukrainian bodies on 8 November. About it Suspilnymi reported in the Coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war.

On that day, the bodies of 563 dead military men were returned to Ukraine as a result of repatriation measures.

A representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Oleksandr Shcherban, suggested in a commentary to the ZMINA news and analysis website that the Russians intentionally did not return Roschyna's body for such a long time. Thus, they want to prevent Ukrainian experts from establishing the true cause of her death.

He added that this is a common practice for the Russians, who try to hide traces of violence and torture of prisoners.

Shcherban added that the Ukrainian side is trying to do everything possible to get representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross or the Russian ombudsman into Russian prisons, where Ukrainians are mistreated.

We shall remind you that the death of journalist Viktoriya Roshchyna in Russian custody became known on 10 October. Her father Vladimir received information about the death of journalist Viktoriya Roshchyna from Russian officials. Later, the information was confirmed by the Ukrainian side.

In his turn, a representative of the State Security Service of Ukraine (GUR), Andriy Yusov, claimed that Viktoriya Roshchyna was on the exchange list. Yusov stressed that her return had been agreed and, according to him, she had been transferred to Lefortovo in order to prepare her return home.

The prosecutor's office qualified the case of her disappearance as a war crime coupled with premeditated murder.

The European Union stated that it demands a thorough and independent investigation into the circumstances of Viktoria Roshchina's death. A similar statement has already been made by "Reporters Without Borders" and UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay.

We would like to add that from the beginning of the armed conflict, Roshchyna lived in the Russian-occupied territory. on 16 March 2022 it became known about the first detention of the journalist by the FSB of the Russian Federation. Then she was in occupied Berdyansk. on 22 March, the Russian military released Roschina from captivity, forcing her to record a video, where she says that she has no claims to the special services of the Russian Federation.

Already on 27 July 2023, Roshchyna left Ukraine for Poland and was supposed to reach the occupied territories in eastern Ukraine (via Russia) in three days. When her family spoke to her on 3 August, the journalist said she had passed several days of border checks but would not say where she was. The Ukrainian security service later confirmed that Viktoriya had been taken captive by the Russians.

Viktoriya Roshchyna worked for hromadske, published in Ukrayinska Pravda and Radio Liberty. She also co-operated with Ukrainian Radio, UA: First and Censor.net. In 2022, she received the International Women's Media Foundation's award "For Courage in Journalism".