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Victoria Roshchyna

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Victoria Roshchyna (Ukrainian: Вікторія Рощина[1]; 6 October 1996 – 19 September 2024) was a Ukrainian journalist who reported on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Siege of Mariupol. She disappeared in August 2023, and in October 2024 was confirmed to have died in Russian detention. In 2022, she was a recipient of the International Women's Media Foundation's Courage in Journalism Award.

Victoria Roshchyna
Вікторія Рощина
Born6 October 1996
Died19 September 2024(2024-09-19) (aged 27)
Russia

Career

Victoria Roshchyna worked as a freelance journalist for Ukrainska Pravda, Radio Free Europe,[2] and Hromadske.[3] She wrote about living in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, especially Crimea, and the Siege of Mariupol.[4] She was detained by the Russian military in Vasylivka in March 2022, but managed to escape after hiding in a basement overnight.[5]

In early March 2022, her car was fired on by Russian tanks.[5][6] She and her driver escaped, but her computer and camera were stolen.[6] On 11 March Roshchyna was detained in Berdiansk by the Russian Federal Security Service for ten days.[7][5] She was only allowed free after she making a videotaped stating that the Russian forces had saved her life.[8] She wrote an artictle about her time in captivity for Hromadske.[5] Later that year, she was given a Courage in Journalism Award by the International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF).[2] She refused to attend the award ceremony, so she could instead focus on her reporting.[9]

Disappearance and death

In July 2023, Roshchyna went to Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine to report on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. To enter the territory, she planned to go through Poland and Russia. She told her family on 3 August 2023 that she had passed through the border checks;[7] it was the last time they heard from her.[2] They reported her as missing on 12 August, and officially filed a report on 21 September.[10] Her disappearance was made public on 4 October 2023 by her family, through reports in The Daily Beast and Ukrainska Pravda.[7] According to Anna Nemtsova, the author of The Daily Beast article and friend of Roshchyna's, she published the article "to raise hell" and out of hope that if Roshchyna were still alive, her captors would "stop torturing her".[7]

In April 2024 the Russian government confirmed that they were holding Roshchyna in detention.[2]

The IWMF called her detention "unjust".[9] Human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina announced she had written to Tatyana Moskalkova, then Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia, asking for an update on Roshchyna's status.[5] Sevgil Musayeva, her editor at Ukrainska Pravda, and the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine called for her immediate release.[9]

Her death was announced on 10 October 2024 by Petro Yatsenko of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.[11] In a letter to her family, Russian officials said that she had died on 19 September 2024, though they did not release her cause of death.[12] Russian news organization Mediazona reported that she was in the process of being transferred to Moscow at the time of her death.[2] According to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, Roshchyna was on a prisoner exchange list and was being held in the Russian city of Taganrog.[4][11] The Ukrainian NGO Media Initiative for Human Rights also said that she had been held in a penal colony in Berdiansk prior to her transfer to Taganrog.[13]

Reporters Without Borders and the IWMF called for an investigation into her death and detention.[14]

Personal life

Victoria Roshchyna was born on 6 October 1996.[15][4] Roshchyna's hometown was Zaporizhzhia. She had one sister.[5]

Publications

  • Roshchyna, Victoria (2022-03-26). "Тиждень у полоні окупантів. Як я вибралася з рук ФСБ, «кадирівців» і дагестанців". Hromadske.

References

  1. ^ "Журналістка Вікторія Рощина померла в російському полоні – Координаційний штаб". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (in Ukrainian). 2024-10-10. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  2. ^ a b c d e Agence France-Presse in Kyiv (2024-10-10). "Ukrainian reporter died in Russian detention, Kyiv says". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  3. ^ International Women's Media Foundation [@theiwmf] (2024-02-24). "Two Years On: Remembering Victoria Roshchyna" – via Instagram.
  4. ^ a b c "Ukrainian journalist dies in Russian detention, officials say". Reuters. 2024-10-10. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Nemtsova, Anna (2023-10-04). "'Courage Award'-Winning Ukraine Reporter Goes Missing". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  6. ^ a b Caruso, Carmela (2023-10-26). "Fears Grow for Ukrainian Journalist Missing Almost 3 Months". Voice of America. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  7. ^ a b c d Pietsch, Bryan (2023-10-04). "Ukrainian journalist missing in Russian-occupied territory". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  8. ^ "Ukrainian journalist released from Russian captivity". The Kyiv Independent. 2022-03-22. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  9. ^ a b c Scott, Liam (2024-05-31). "As Russia confirms it jailed missing Ukrainian journalist, calls mount for her release". Voice of America. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  10. ^ "Ukraine: RSF concerned about the disappearance of a freelance journalist heading for the occupied territories". Reporters Without Borders. 2023-10-06. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  11. ^ a b Ostiller, Nate (2024-10-10). "Kyiv confirms death of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna held in Russian captivity". The Kyiv Independent. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  12. ^ "Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna has died in a Russian jail: RSF demands an investigation into the circumstances of her death". Reporters Without Borders. 2024-10-10. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  13. ^ Fornusek, Martin. "Journalist Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity, held in 'one of the most brutal detention centers,' NGO says". The Kyiv Independent. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  14. ^ Cunningham, Doug. "Investigation demanded after Ukrainian journalist dies in Russian captivity". UPI. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  15. ^ «Полон вбиває»: НСЖУ про смерть української журналістки Вікторії Рощиної - Ukrainian National Union of Journalists
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