Victoria Roshchyna wins posthumous human rights award

Journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who died in Russian custody, has been posthumously awarded the Czech human rights prize Homo Hemini by the NGO People in Need, Ukrainska Pravda reports.

The award ceremony took place on March 12, 2025 in Prague. Victoria Roshchyna's award was received by the Ukrainska Pravda chief editor Sevgil Musaieva, says human rights activist Maksym Butkevych.

Sevgil Musaieva says that the award recognized Victoria's belief in the mission of journalism and her courage to be the voice of Ukrainians in the territories occupied by Russia.

Victoria Roshchyna's award was received by the Ukrainska Pravda chief editor Sevgil Musaieva. Photo by Maksym Butkevych on Facebook

“Victoria was incredibly brave and addressed the most difficult topics in her reporting. It was important for her to tell the stories of Ukrainians in the occupied territories. She dedicated herself to journalism,” said Sevgil Musaieva.

The executive board of the NGO People in Need decided to award Victoria Roshchyna for her “courage to tell the stories of Ukrainians in the territories occupied by Russia and for her many years of journalism dedicated to covering the issues threatening Ukraine’s democracy, issues on which she did not compromise even at the risk of her personal safety.”

The second laureate of the award was the Nigerian investigator and activist Philip Obaji. He documented over a hundred crimes committed by Russian paramilitary units in West and Central Africa over the past seven years.

Victoria Roshchyna's award was received by the Ukrainska Pravda chief editor Sevgil Musaieva. Photo by Maksym Butkevych on Facebook

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.

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 checks.