Signs of torture and some internal organs missing – Prosecutor General's Office reports on state of body identified as journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna's

The body believed to be that of journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who died in Russian custody, bears numerous signs of torture, as well as traces of an autopsy. Several of the internal organs are missing.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda article, The Viktoriia Project: the story of the captivity and torture endured by journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna and thousands of Ukrainians imprisoned by Russia

Details: Yurii Bielousov, Head of the War Department at the Prosecutor General’s Office, said that numerous signs of torture and ill-treatment have been found on Roshchyna’s body, including abrasions and bruises on various parts of the body and a broken rib. Forensic experts have also noted possible indications of electric shock having been used.

"The bodily injuries were inflicted while she was alive. Therefore, it is highly likely that she was tortured," Bielousov said.

The investigative team conducting the inquiry told our project that when the body was brought back to Ukraine, it bore signs that an autopsy had been performed in Russia. Sources told Project Viktoriia that several internal organs were missing, including the brain, the eyeballs, and part of the trachea.

An international forensic pathologist told us that the absence of these organs may be evidence that the Russians were attempting to conceal the fact that Roshchyna’s death was caused by strangulation or suffocation.

Roshchyna's body was returned during an exchange on 14 February 2025. It was numbered 757 and labelled with the notes "unidentified male" and "СПАС" (SPAS).

However, during the initial examination, forensic pathologists determined that the body was that of a woman. An investigation conducted by the Prosecutor General’s Office revealed a 99% DNA match with Viktoriia Roshchyna.

The abbreviation SPAS in Russian, which stands for "cumulative damage to the arteries of the heart", may indicate the "official cause of death" recorded by the Russian authorities.

The Prosecutor General’s Office had previously reported that the forensic examination was unable to establish the cause of death due to the condition of the body and its mummification.

Background:

• Viktoriia Roshchyna left Ukraine for Poland on 25 July 2023 to travel to the occupied territory. She planned to reach the occupied part of Ukraine's east via Russia in three days.
• Roshchyna disappeared on 3 August 2023 in the temporarily occupied territory from where she was reporting.
• Russia admitted for the first time in May 2024 that they had detained Roshchyna. The Russian Ministry of Defence sent a letter of confirmation to her father, Volodymyr Roshchyn.
• On 10 October 2024, Petro Yatsenko, the head of the press service for the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, confirmed on the national joint 24/7 newscast that Viktoriia Roshchyna had died in Russian custody. Defence Intelligence of Ukraine said she had been due to be brought back to Ukraine in the near future.
• On 11 October, the Office of the Prosecutor General reported that the criminal proceedings initiated into Roshchyna's disappearance had been reclassified as a war crime combined with premeditated murder.
• Investigative journalists from Slidstvo.info discovered that Roshchyna was brutally tortured in Russian captivity. She had stab wounds on her body and had been electrocuted, and staff at the Russian penal colony where she was held hid her away when inspections were carried out.

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