Late journalist Viktoria Roshchyna repeatedly insisted on seeing a psychotherapist while imprisoned in the Taganrog pre-trial detention center. When the guards refused, she had a hysterical fit and tried to cut the veins in her arms. She was also assigned solitary confinement for disobedience, ex-prisoner nicknamed Razor, who was released from Russian custody in October 2025, tells Slidstvo.Info
Razor says he was in a cell next to Viktoria’s for some time, so they could even communicate by knocking on the wall before going to bed to wish each other good night.
“Roshchyna got her ‘fair share’ of penalties. The Russians said she misbehaved, made too much noise. They needed everyone to sit quietly and keep their mouths shut. And would ask to see a psychotherapist or to get her different books. She would constantly ask to see the operatives,” the ex-prisoner said.
Viktoria Roshchyna would also repeatedly get sent into solitary confinement for “misbehaving,” Razor said.
“Inmates in solitary confinement would systematically get beaten. The cells are small, you take out the mattress in the morning, they strap the bed up, and that’s it. You either walk around or sit on the floor,” he said.
The ex-prisoner added that the journalist had once again asked to see a psychotherapist during a morning check. The guards were outraged by her request.
“And the girl went into hysterics. And they (guards. – Ed.) yelled at her, ‘Go to your cell! Don’t get on our nerves!’ And she went into her cell. We heard screams. And she, as I understand it, ripped off the plastic lampshade and cut her arms. But not much, she just ruined her skin. The doctors came running,” said Razor.
Viktoria Roshchyna’s death
The death of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna in Russian prison was reported on 10 October 2024. According to the letter sent to her family by Russia’s Ministry of Defense on 10 October, Victoria died on 19 September. Viktoria Roshchyna’s name was on the swap lists.
It was reported on 24 April that the body of Viktoria Roshchyna had been brought back to Ukraine in late February this year. She was identified through DNA testing.
The autopsy failed to identify the causes of Viktoria Roshchyna’s death due to the body’s state. However, numerous signs of torture were found on Viktoria’s body.
An investigation by Project Viktoria revealed that Viktoria Roshchyna’s body was listed in the documents as an “unidentified male” when Russia handed it over to Ukraine and had a single label of unclear meaning: SPAS. The examination found that some internal organs were missing from the body. In particular, the brain, eyeballs, and part of the trachea.
Slidstvo.Info discovered that Victoria Roshchyna was brutally tortured in Russian custody: there were stab wounds on her body, the journalist weighed under 30 kilograms, and Russian prison officers hid her from inspections.
Viktoria was buried in Kyiv on 8 August 2025.