A Ukrainian journalist, who was allegedly stabbed and electrocuted while in Russian detention, weighed just 30 kilograms around the time she died, a major press investigation has found.
Viktoria Roshchyna traveled to Russian-occupied Ukraine in summer 2023 to report on the alleged use of torture chambers by Moscow’s forces in the Zaporizhzhia region.
But she ended up being tortured herself, according to research by three Ukrainian news outlets alongside the media freedom organization, Reporters without Borders.
Roshchyna, described as independently-minded and fearless by her colleagues, was arrested in Enerhodar, near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
After a period of captivity in occupied Melitopol, where she was allegedly tortured, she spent her final months in the SIZO remand prison No. 2 in Taganrog, a port city in Russia’s Rostov province.
Her father is still waiting for her body to be returned, months after her apparent death in September 2024.
Journalists from Slidstvo.Info tracked down testimony from Roshchyna’s cellmate at Taganrog. She alleged the journalist had been tortured by stabbing and electrocution.
“Whenever there were interrogations, the Russians used electric current,” the witness said.
“I saw several scars on her body—definitely on her arm and leg. She had a knife wound, a fresh scar, between her wrist and elbow in the soft tissue. The scar was about three centimeters long.”
The cellmate said that Roshchyna had described one of the torturers as “brutal, unhinged.” She was reportedly denied access to medicine and, over time, started shedding weight.
“She constantly asked for help,” her cellmate said.
“At first, she said she had stomach issues, no periods the whole time, and was feverish. Then the fellow women noticed she was losing weight fast. Vika was down to 30 kilograms.
“I helped her stand because she was in such a state she couldn’t even lift her head from the pillow.”
The witness said that no-one saw Roshchyna after September 8, 2024, the report said.
The following month, her father received an email from the Russian Defense Ministry saying she had died on September 19, but no cause of death or further documentation was provided.
Roshchyna, described as independently-minded and fearless by her colleagues, was arrested in Enerhodar, near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
After a period of captivity in occupied Melitopol, where she was allegedly tortured, she spent her final months in the SIZO remand prison No. 2 in Taganrog, a port city in Russia’s Rostov province.
Her father is still waiting for her body to be returned, months after her apparent death in September 2024.
‘Brutal, unhinged’
Journalists from Slidstvo.Info tracked down testimony from Roshchyna’s cellmate at Taganrog. She alleged the journalist had been tortured by stabbing and electrocution.
“Whenever there were interrogations, the Russians used electric current,” the witness said.
“I saw several scars on her body—definitely on her arm and leg. She had a knife wound, a fresh scar, between her wrist and elbow in the soft tissue. The scar was about three centimeters long.”
The cellmate said that Roshchyna had described one of the torturers as “brutal, unhinged.” She was reportedly denied access to medicine and, over time, started shedding weight.
“She constantly asked for help,” her cellmate said.
“At first, she said she had stomach issues, no periods the whole time, and was feverish. Then the fellow women noticed she was losing weight fast. Vika was down to 30 kilograms.
“I helped her stand because she was in such a state she couldn’t even lift her head from the pillow.”
The witness said that no-one saw Roshchyna after September 8, 2024, the report said.
The following month, her father received an email from the Russian Defense Ministry saying she had died on September 19, but no cause of death or further documentation was provided.
Roshchyna was ‘never charged’
How Roshchyna ended up in Russian detention was unknown until this collaborative investigation by various media outlets.
She had been captured by Russia’s forces earlier, at the beginning of the war, but was released after a week.
Determined to investigate allegations of torture chambers in Russian-occupied Ukraine, she had traveled via Poland and Latvia, where she crossed into mainland Russia before heading to Zaporizhzhia province.
Roshchyna was detained in Enerhodar in early August 2023 but was never charged, according to the Ukranian prosecutor, Iryna Didenko, who spoke to Slidstvo.Info about her work investigating the journalist’s case.
Reporters without Frontiers (RSF) said that there were many questions still to answer, including what happened after in the days running up to the declaration of death on September 19.
They also questioned why her body had not been released, six months on.
“This investigation… reveals the extent of the ill-treatment inflicted on Viktoria Roshchyna and the extreme delay in her medical treatment despite the rapid deterioration in her state of health,” Arnaud Froger and Pauline Maufrais from RSF said.
“By refusing to release the journalist and provide her with appropriate care — until the point when she could no longer stand — Russia bears enormous responsibility for what happened to this Ukrainian reporter.
“The fact that her body has not been returned to her family only strengthens any suspicions about the abuse she suffered and casts further doubts on the declaration of her death.”
She had been captured by Russia’s forces earlier, at the beginning of the war, but was released after a week.
Determined to investigate allegations of torture chambers in Russian-occupied Ukraine, she had traveled via Poland and Latvia, where she crossed into mainland Russia before heading to Zaporizhzhia province.
Roshchyna was detained in Enerhodar in early August 2023 but was never charged, according to the Ukranian prosecutor, Iryna Didenko, who spoke to Slidstvo.Info about her work investigating the journalist’s case.
‘Russia bears enormous responsibility’
Reporters without Frontiers (RSF) said that there were many questions still to answer, including what happened after in the days running up to the declaration of death on September 19.
They also questioned why her body had not been released, six months on.
“This investigation… reveals the extent of the ill-treatment inflicted on Viktoria Roshchyna and the extreme delay in her medical treatment despite the rapid deterioration in her state of health,” Arnaud Froger and Pauline Maufrais from RSF said.
“By refusing to release the journalist and provide her with appropriate care — until the point when she could no longer stand — Russia bears enormous responsibility for what happened to this Ukrainian reporter.
“The fact that her body has not been returned to her family only strengthens any suspicions about the abuse she suffered and casts further doubts on the declaration of her death.”
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