Journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna tried to cut her wrists in Russian captivity in front of guards to get psychological aid
Journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who was killed in Russian captivity, used to repeatedly demand a psychologist be brought to her in the Taganrog remand prison and, after being refused again, tried to cut her wrists in front of guards, according to a former prisoner, who goes by the alias Brytva (Razor).
Source: Slidstvo.Info, a Ukrainian investigative journalism outlet, citing a former prisoner who spent some time in a cell next to Roshchyna and was brought back to Ukraine in October 2025
Quote: "Roshchyna got it pretty badly. In the Russians' view, she behaved badly and was noisy. They needed everyone to sit quietly and not open their mouths. And she asked either for a psychologist or for her books to be changed. She constantly asked to see the operational officers."
Details: Brytva added that in the Taganrog remand prison, Roshchyna was repeatedly sent to an isolated solitary cell – a punishment cell – for "improper behaviour".
"In the punishment cell there are systematic beatings. It's a small cell: in the morning you take the mattress out, they strap the bed up and that's it. You either walk around or sit on the floor," the man said.
He said that during one morning inspection, Roshchyna again asked for a psychologist, which angered the guards.
"And the girl has a hysterical fit. And they [the guards – ed.] shout at her: 'Go to your cell! Don't get on our nerves!' And she goes into the cell. We hear screaming. And she, as I understood it, tore off a plastic light cover and cut her wrists. But not badly – she only damaged the skin. Medics ran in," Brytva said.
Background:
- Viktoriia Roshchyna died in remand prison No. 3 in the city of Kizel in Perm Krai, Russia, in 2024.
- The journalist ended up in Russian captivity in August 2023 when she went to report from territories occupied by Russia.
- For more than a year her family and loved ones waited for Roshchyna to be included in a prisoner exchange and to return home, but in October 2024 her father received word from the Russians that she had died in captivity.
- Later, Roshchyna's body was returned to Ukraine.
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