A journalist taken captive by Russia while reporting in eastern Ukraine has died in custody, Ukrainian officials announced Thursday.
Viktoria Roshchyna, 28, had been in detention for over a year. Her death in Russian custody was announced by a spokesperson for Ukraine’s prisoner-of-war unit.
The spokesperson, Petro Yatsenko, said it was “too early to talk about the circumstances of the death.”
But the Russian news outlet Mediazona reported that the journalist died while being transferred to Moscow from a prison in Taganrog, near Ukraine’s border.
A member of Ukraine’s military intelligence said Roshchyna was due to be part of a prisoner exchange, and it is believed she was being moved to Moscow for that purpose when she died.
Efforts had been underway to free Roshchyna and about 25 other Ukrainian journalists detained or listed as missing in Russian-held regions, the intelligence official was cited as saying.
“She was supposed to have been home soon; everything necessary had been done,” Ukrainian intelligence representative Andrii Yusov told local media.
He added that Russia had not confirmed the death officially and that Ukraine’s intelligence service was verifying the details.
Russia’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to VOA’s request for comment.
As a freelance journalist, Roshchyna worked for several news outlets, including Ukrainska Pravda and VOA sister network RFE/RL.
RFE/RL President Stephen Capus on Thursday said he was “devastated” by the news.
“Her unlawful imprisonment and tragic death underscore the high price journalists pay for reporting the truth about Russia’s war on Ukraine. We must honor her legacy by holding her captors accountable,” Capus said in a statement.
Roshchyna was first reported missing in August 2023 while on assignment in Russian-occupied Ukraine.
In April, her family received a letter from Moscow officials confirming she had been taken into custody.
Media watchdogs and journalist associations condemned her death and expressed condolences for her family.
The Washington-based International Women’s Media Foundation, or IWMF, which awarded Roshchyna its 2022 Courage in Journalist Award, paid tribute to the young reporter.
“Victoria’s passing is not just the loss of a remarkable woman but of an intrepid witness to history,” the IWMF said in a statement. “Regardless of her cause of death, we can say with certainty that her life was taken because she dared to tell the truth.”
The IWMF called on the international community to pressure Russia to end its targeting of journalists.
