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Victoria Roshchyna

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

Victoria Volodymyrivna Roshchyna (Ukrainian: Вікторія Володимирівна Рощина;[1] 6 October 1996 – 19 September 2024[a]) was a Ukrainian journalist who reported on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Siege of Mariupol. She was a recipient of the International Women's Media Foundation's 2022 Courage in Journalism Award. Roshchyna disappeared in August 2023, and in October 2024 was confirmed to have died in Russian detention. The Ukrainian government announced it would investigate her death as a potential murder and war crime.

Career

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Victoria Roshchyna began working as a journalist when she was a teenager, covering court decisions and crime. After the 2022 Russian invasion and occupation of Eastern Ukraine, she started to write about living in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine and the Siege of Mariupol.[2][3] She worked as a freelance journalist for Ukrainska Pravda, Radio Free Europe,[4] and Hromadske.[5]

She was detained by the Russian military in Vasylivka in March 2022, but managed to escape after hiding in a basement overnight.[6]

In early March 2022, her car was fired on by Russian tanks.[6][7] She and her driver escaped, but her computer and camera were stolen.[7] On 11 March Roshchyna was detained in Berdiansk by the Russian Federal Security Service for ten days.[8][6] She was only allowed free after she made a videotape stating that the Russian forces had saved her life.[9] She wrote an article about her time in captivity for Hromadske.[6][3] Later that year, she was given a Courage in Journalism Award by the International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF).[4][10] She refused to attend the award ceremony, so she could instead focus on her reporting.[11]

Disappearance and death

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In July 2023, Roshchyna went to Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, possibly to report on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant crisis and the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam.[12] 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;[8] it was the last time they heard from her.[4] They reported her as missing on 12 August, and officially filed a report on 21 September.[13] Her disappearance was made public on 4 October 2023 by her family, through reports in The Daily Beast and Ukrainska Pravda.[8] 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 was still alive, her captors would "stop torturing her".[8] According to Tatyana Katrichenko, she was detained at a minimum at both the penal colony #77 in Berdansk and later, in solitary confinement from at least May to September 2024, the pre-trial detention center #2 (Russian: СИЗО № 2) at Taganrog also known as "hell on earth" (Ukrainian: «пекло на землі»), where female Ukrainian prisoners, both military and civilian, are tortured. "Since the first months of the full-scale invasion, the Russians have been using both places to hold both the Ukrainian military and civilians, in particular, women," (Russian: «Оба места с первых месяцев полномасштабного вторжения россияне используют для содержания как украинских военных, так и гражданских, в частности, женщин») said Katrichenko.[14]

Around 22 April 2024, her father Volodimir Mikhailovich (Ukrainian: Володимир Михайлович) received a letter dated 17 April 2024 from the Russian government which confirmed that they were holding Roshchyna in detention.[4][12][15][16]

The IWMF called her detention "unjust"[11] and the European Union described it as "illegal" and "arbitrary".[10] 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.[6] Sevgil Musayeva, her editor at Ukrainska Pravda, and the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine called for her immediate release.[11]

Her death was announced on 10 October 2024 by Petro Yatsenko of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.[17] In a letter to her family, Russian officials said that she had died on 19 September 2024.[18] Her cause of death remains unknown.[18][19] Russian news organization Mediazona reported that she was in the process of being transferred to Moscow at the time of her death.[4] According to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, Roshchyna was on a prisoner exchange list and was being held in the Russian city of Taganrog.[2][17] The Ukrainian NGO Media Initiative for Human Rights also said that she had been held in penal colony number 77 in Berdiansk prior to her transfer to pre-trial detention centre #2 in Taganrog. Both centres have been accused of torturing prisoners.[20][21]

Reporters Without Borders, the IWMF,[22] the European Union,[23] and the Committee to Protect Journalists[19] called for an investigation into her death and detention. On 11 October, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine announced it was treating her disappearance as a potential murder and a war crime.[20][23] President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy described her death as "a real blow" to journalists in Ukraine.[23]

Personal life

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Victoria Roshchyna was born on 6 October 1996.[24][2] Roshchyna's hometown was Zaporizhzhia. She had one sister.[6]

Publications

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  • Roshchyna, Victoria (2022-03-26). "Тиждень у полоні окупантів. Як я вибралася з рук ФСБ, «кадирівців» і дагестанців" [A week in captivity of the occupiers. How I got out of the hands of the FSB, "Kadyrivets" and Dagestanis]. Hromadske.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ According to Russian officials, although not confirmed from other sources as of 13 October 2024

References

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  1. ^ "Журналістка Вікторія Рощина померла в російському полоні – Координаційний штаб" [Journalist Victoria Roshchyna died in Russian captivity - Coordination Headquarters]. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (in Ukrainian). 2024-10-10. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  2. ^ a b c "Ukrainian journalist dies in Russian detention, officials say". Reuters. 2024-10-10. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  3. ^ a b Shulzhenko, Daria (2024-10-11). "What we know about Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna who died in Russian captivity". The Kyiv Independent. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ International Women's Media Foundation [@theiwmf] (2024-02-24). "Two Years On: Remembering Victoria Roshchyna" – via Instagram.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ a b Caruso, Carmela (2023-10-26). "Fears Grow for Ukrainian Journalist Missing Almost 3 Months". Voice of America. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  8. ^ a b c d Pietsch, Bryan (2023-10-04). "Ukrainian journalist missing in Russian-occupied territory". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  9. ^ "Ukrainian journalist released from Russian captivity". The Kyiv Independent. 2022-03-22. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  10. ^ a b "Statement by the Spokesperson on the death of Ukrainian journalist in Russian captivity". European External Action Service. Brussels. 2024-10-11. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ a b "Минобороны РФ впервые признало, что держит в плену украинскую журналистку Викторию Рощину. Она пропала почти год назад" [For the first time, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation admitted that it was holding Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchina in captivity. She disappeared almost a year ago]. Meduza (in Russian). 27 May 2024. Archived from the original on 11 October 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  13. ^ "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.
  14. ^ "В российском плену умерла украинская журналистка Виктория Рощина Год назад ее похитили на оккупированной РФ территории Украины — и должны были вернуть домой в результате обмена" [Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchina died in Russian captivity A year ago, she was kidnapped in the territory of Ukraine occupied by the Russian Federation - and was supposed to be returned home as a result of an exchange]. «Медуза» (meduza.io) (in Russian). 11 October 2024. Archived from the original on 11 October 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  15. ^ "Уперше росія визнала, що тримає у полоні відому українську журналістку Вікторію Рощину" [For the first time, Russia has admitted to holding the famous Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna captive]. National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). 27 May 2024. Archived from the original on 11 October 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  16. ^ "Список журналістів, які загинули від початку повномасштабної російської агресії (оновлено)" [List of journalists who have died since the beginning of full-scale Russian aggression (updated)]. National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). 11 October 2024. Archived from the original on 11 October 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ a b "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.
  19. ^ a b Méheut, Constant (2024-10-11). "Ukrainian Journalist Has Died in Russian Captivity, Ukraine Says". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  20. ^ a b 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.
  21. ^ "В российском плену умерла украинская журналистка Виктория Рощина Год назад ее похитили на оккупированной РФ территории Украины — и должны были вернуть домой в результате обмена" [Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchina died in Russian captivity A year ago, she was kidnapped in the territory of Ukraine occupied by the Russian Federation - and was supposed to be returned home as a result of an exchange]. «Медуза» (meduza.io) (in Russian). 11 October 2024. Archived from the original on 11 October 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  22. ^ Cunningham, Doug. "Investigation demanded after Ukrainian journalist dies in Russian captivity". UPI. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  23. ^ a b c "Ukraine opens 'war crime' probe over reporter's death". South China Morning Post. Agence France-Presse. 2024-10-11. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
  24. ^ "«Полон вбиває»: НСЖУ про смерть української журналістки Вікторії Рощиної" ["Captivity kills": NSJU on the death of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roschyna]. Ukrainian National Union of Journalists.
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