Ukraine returned the body of journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity, back in February, but it took time to identify the body.
Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, said this in a comment to Ukrinform.
“We now have official confirmation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs that Viktoria’s body has been returned,” Yurchyshyn stated.
He explained that the body was returned at the end of February, but additional examinations were required. “Viktoria’s father, understandably, insisted on multiple examinations both in Ukraine and abroad to ensure the identification was accurate,” Yurchyshyn added.
The journalist’s family is still awaiting the final results of these examinations. Yurchyshyn emphasized the necessity of this procedure, citing Russia’s previous tactics of replacing the bodies of Ukrainians it had killed.
As reported, journalist Viktoria Roshchyna went missing in August 2023 during a trip to territories temporarily occupied by Russia. Human rights activists later revealed that she had been held in two of Russia’s most notorious prisons.
The news of Roshchyna’s death emerged on October 10, 2024, when her family received a letter from the Russian Ministry of Defense stating that she had died on September 19. At the time, she was listed for a prisoner exchange. Ukrainian law enforcement has classified the criminal proceedings surrounding her disappearance as a war crime combined with premeditated murder.
According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), Roshchyna was scheduled to be part of an upcoming prisoner exchange. However, on February 22, 2025, Bohdan Okhrimenko, head of the Secretariat of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, disclosed that after prolonged negotiations last autumn, Russia had expressed readiness to return Roshchyna but repeatedly postponed the date. It was later reported that she had died in captivity.
Andriy Yusov, Deputy Head of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, emphasized that Ukraine is making every effort to uncover the truth about the possible torture Roshchyna endured while in Russian captivity.
