Ukraine buries reporter who died in Russian captivity, urges release of others
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna went missing in August 2023 during a reporting trip to Russian-held territory in eastern Ukraine, and died after a year in Russian detention.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
- Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who reported from occupied areas, was buried in Kyiv on August 8 after dying in Russian captivity in 2024.
- Roshchyna's colleagues are calling for increased international pressure on Moscow to release the at least 30 other Ukrainian reporters detained in Russia.
- Roshchyna went missing in August 2023; her cause of death is undetermined, and Russia denies torture allegations, while prisoner swaps exclude civilians.
AI generated
KYIV - Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity in 2024, was buried in Kyiv on Aug 8, while her colleagues called for international pressure to secure the release of other Ukrainian reporters held by Moscow.
Several hundred people gathered in the centre of Kyiv for a solemn ceremony to pay tribute to Ms Roshchyna, 27, whose first-hand reporting provided a rare glimpse into life under occupation in the early months of Russia’s invasion.
“It is very sad... It is really about losing a professional who was braver than any of us,” Ms Nataliya Gumenyuk, a journalist, told Reuters. “We pay tribute while there are still other Ukrainian reporters behind bars, and with what has happened to her, it is our duty not to stop.”
Ms Roshchyna went missing in August 2023 during a reporting trip to Russia-held eastern Ukraine. She died after a year in detention.
The body of the journalist was discovered among bodies that Russia handed over to Ukraine earlier in 2025. Ukrainian forensic experts were unable to determine the cause of death, but found signs of injuries and possible torture,
Moscow did not comment on Aug 8, but has previously denied allegations of torture.
Ukraine’s National Union of Journalists said that it had verified a list of at least 30 Ukrainian reporters who were in detention in Russia.
Several of Ms Roshchyna’s colleagues who attended the funeral said that more political and international pressure on Moscow was required to help release the reporters.
Ukraine and Russia regularly exchange prisoners of war, and several large swops took place after Kyiv and Moscow met for three rounds of talks in the Turkish capital Istanbul. The exchanges typically include servicemen from both sides but not civilians. REUTERS
