Moscow gives back body of Ukrainian journalist who died in Russian custody showing clear evidence of severe torture

Warning: The account in this article contains graphic and distressing details from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Viktoria Roshchyna, aged 27, was among the 757 bodies mainly of Ukrainian soldiers repatriated to Kyiv on February 14, 2025. Her body showed clear signs of torture, following over a year of captivity under Russian forces.

Roshchyna, a brave journalist, was taken prisoner by Russian troops while covering events beyond the front lines in a region of Ukraine under Russian control in August 2023.

Even though her body was among the many returned, she was one of the few not identified by name. Instead, a tag marked “unidentified male” was attached to her leg.

Journalist Viktoria Roshchyna was reportedly held in occupied Ukraine and tortured by Russian forces before dying in captivity in October 2024. (Image provided by East2West)

“The condition of the body and its mummification have made it impossible to establish the cause of death through the forensic examination,” Bielousov told reporters involved in the investigation.

Roshchyna’s parents have requested additional testing to be carried out.

After her capture, Roshchyna was held at a police station in the city of Energodar near the Zaporizhzhi nuclear power plant, where, according to the investigation, Russian forces set up a “torture chamber” and subjected captives to severe beatings and electric shock.

It is believed Roshchyna endured electric shock applied to her ears. 

Roshchyna was then transferred to Melitopol days later where she was held until the end of 2023 and is also believed to have endured significant torture. 

By the beginning of 2024, she was reportedly transferred along with other prisoners to a pre-trial detention center known as “No. 2” in Taganrog, a city in southwest Russia near the Ukrainian border and which has been likened to a concentration camp. 

Viktoria Roshchyna (Image provided by East2West)

The investigation referred to the site “as one of the most terrifying for Ukrainian prisoners” and confirmed that neither lawyers nor international organizations such as the Red Cross or United Nations observers have been allowed into this detention center.

Roshchyna reportedly went on a hunger strike before she was transferred to a hospital, revived to an extent and then sent back to the detention center.

She was intended to be returned to Ukraine in September 2024, but the exchange never happened for unknown reasons. Roshchyna was then reported to have died while in a convoy, but where she was headed remains unclear.