Investigators: Viktoria Roshchyna was brutally tortured in Russian custody, weighed under 30 kg
Journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who was detained by Russian forces in the summer of 2023, was brutally tortured: there were stab wounds on her body, the journalist weighed under 30 kilograms, and Russian prison officers hid her from checks, according to the Slidstvo.Info investigation “Vika’s Last Mission”.
Viktoria was captured in August 2023 in the part of Ukraine occupied by Russia, where she had travelled to report. It was later reported that she was being held in detention center No. 2 in Taganrog, Rostov region, Russia. Then, in October 2024, the Russian Ministry of Defense sent a letter to her father, Volodymyr Roshchyn, saying that Viktoria had died in custody.
The Russian troops first detained Viktoria and held her in a torture chamber in the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia oblast, later transferring her to Taganrog.
According to Iryna Didenko, a senior prosecutor in Roshchyna's case at the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Ukrainian journalist was held in prison without any charges brought against her.
Slidstvo.Info received testimony from Viktoria's cellmate (name withheld for safety reasons. – Note) about what happened to her in the torture chamber and the Taganrog prison No. 2.
The woman cited Viktoria as saying that she had been held in Enerhodar first (the investigators were able to confirm this through another source. – Ed.), then in Melitopol. These were unauthorized detention facilities set up by the Russians on the occupied Ukrainian lands.
The Taganrog prison witness said that Victoria had been tortured. The journalist had stab wounds on her body when she arrived to the prison after the period of detention in the occupied territory.
“I saw several scars on her body – there were definitely some on her arm and leg. She had a stab wound, a really fresh scar. In the soft tissue between her hand and elbow. And the scar was about three centimeters long,” says Vika’s cellmate from the Taganrog prison.
In addition to knife cuts, Victoria was also tortured with electric shocks.
“I know that she was electrocuted (tortured. – Ed.) more than once. And she didn’t say how many times, but she said that she was all blue,” recalls Vika’s fellow captive, specifying that the current could have been connected to Viktoria’s ears.
Over time, the journalist began to lose weight rapidly. Viktoria refused to eat and constantly asked the prison guards for help.
When the prison staff noticed that Viktoria was losing weight, the prison administrator would come to her cell and talk to her. She insisted all the time that she be released, swapped, or deported.
“She constantly asked for help. At first, she said that she had stomach problems, she didn’t have periods throughout this time, and she had a fever. Then the women noticed that she was losing a lot of weight. Vika weighed under 30 kilograms. I would help her get up, because she was in such a state that she couldn’t even lift her head off the pillow. First, I would lift her head, Vika would grab the bed handle, and only then could she get up,” says Vika’s cellmate.
According to the woman, there was an inspection by the Russian Commissioner during the time of their detention. Viktoria was hidden from inspection and transferred to a locked room on another floor. Vika was last seen on September 8, 2024, when she was taken out of her cell in an unknown direction.
Viktoria Roshchyna's death
The death of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna in Russian detention was reported on October 10, 2024. Petro Yatsenko of the Coordinating Headquarters for POW Treatment confirmed reports of Viktoria Roshchyna's death.
Viktoria Roshchyna's name was on the swap lists, according to Defense Intelligence representative Andriy Yusov.
Russia earlier admitted detaining Viktoria Roshchyna, who went missing on August 3, 2023 in the temporarily occupied territory. Viktoria was held captive in Russia.
The journalist's father Volodymyr Roshchyn received a letter to that effect by the Russian Ministry of Defense, dated April 17, 2024.
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