International Press Institute calls for justice over journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna's death

The International Press Institute (IPI) has called on Russia to release journalists imprisoned on politically motivated charges and hold accountable those responsible for the death of Viktoriia Roshchyna, who was tortured to death in Russian captivity.

Source: International Press Institute, marking the second anniversary of Viktoriia's death

Details: IPI said 16 journalists have been killed while carrying out their professional duties in Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. Viktoriia Roshchyna was the first media worker to die while unlawfully imprisoned in Russia.

IPI Executive Director Scott Griffen said: "Viktoriia Roshchyna paid the ultimate price for her dedication to ensuring the stories of her fellow citizens living under occupation were heard by the world. Her death shed light on the brutal treatment Ukrainian journalists can face at the hands of Russian authorities. IPI will keep demanding justice for Viktoriia, and we call on the international community to press for the release of every journalist Russia is holding."

The organisation said that, as of August 2026, 27 Ukrainian journalists remained imprisoned in Russia, most of them on politically motivated charges of "terrorism" or "espionage".

In several cases, the Russian authorities have brought no public charges and refuse to acknowledge the detentions. As a result, the media workers are effectively being held incommunicado, cut off from the outside world.

Although Russia and Ukraine regularly conduct prisoner-of-war exchanges, civilians held by Russia are released far less frequently.

Background:

• Viktoriia Roshchyna began working in journalism at the age of 16. During her career, she worked for several Ukrainian media outlets, including as a freelance contributor to Ukrainska Pravda. In 2022, she wrote a series of reports from Russian-occupied territories, including Crimea, Donetsk Oblast and devastated Mariupol.
• Viktoriia went missing in August 2023 in Russian-occupied Enerhodar, where she was working on a report about Russian torture chambers. It was not until May 2024 that Russia admitted to having detained Roshchyna. The Russian Ministry of Defence sent a letter confirming this to her father, Volodymyr Roshchyn.
• Several months later, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War learned that the 27-year-old Viktoriia had died in Russian captivity. Viktoriia died on 19 September 2024, the same month that Russia agreed to include her in the next prisoner exchange list.
• Russia delayed the repatriation of Roshchyna's body, which was only returned in February 2025. Her body bore numerous signs of torture and ill-treatment. Russia returned the body with some internal organs missing, apparently in an attempt to conceal evidence of crimes.
• On 8 August, a funeral was held in Kyiv for Viktoriia Roshchyna. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posthumously awarded the Order of Freedom to Roshchyna on 2 August. In September 2025, she was posthumously honoured with the American Oxi Courage Award for bravery.
• In October 2025, IPI posthumously named Viktoriia a World Press Freedom Hero for her courageous reporting on Russia's occupation of Ukraine. She was also awarded a prize by the Czech human rights organisation People in Need.
• A team of 45 journalists from 13 international media outlets, including Ukrainska Pravda, also joined forces to investigate Viktoriia's journey to Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the circumstances of her disappearance and the torture she endured before her death.

Read the findings of the investigation: The Viktoriia Project: the story of the captivity and torture endured by journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna and thousands of Ukrainians imprisoned by Russia

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