{"id":18996,"date":"2025-05-06T09:22:59","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T09:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/?p=18996"},"modified":"2025-05-06T10:01:49","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T10:01:49","slug":"ukraine-russian-federation-investigate-torture-and-death-in-custody-of-ukrainian-journalist-viktoria-roshchyna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/2025\/05\/06\/ukraine-russian-federation-investigate-torture-and-death-in-custody-of-ukrainian-journalist-viktoria-roshchyna.html","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine\/Russian Federation: Investigate torture and death in custody of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna"},"content":{"rendered":"

PEN Belarus joins the\u00a0statement<\/a> of PEN International about torture and death in custody of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna.<\/p>\n

\u201cPEN International utterly condemns the horrific torture of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who died in Russian custody. As the Russian authorities are trying to cover up their crimes and continue to act with blatant impunity, we renew calls for justice and accountability for Viktoria and fellow Ukrainians held in Russian captivity. All those responsible must be brought to account.\u201d said<\/em> Germ\u00e1n Rojas, Chair of PEN International\u2019s Writers for Peace Committee.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a002 May 2025: The Russian authorities must urgently investigate cases of torture and deaths in custody of all Ukrainians, including journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, PEN International said today. Thousands of Ukrainians currently held in captivity by Russian forces are enduring egregious abuse with complete impunity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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An award-winning freelance journalist from Ukraine, Viktoria Roshchyna went missing<\/a> on 3 August 2023 while reporting in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. She was looking for the location of unofficial places of detention<\/a>, where Russian forces systematically use torture to interrogate Ukrainians or coerce them into making false confessions. In April 2024, the Russian authorities confirmed<\/a> Roshchyna was being detained in the Russian Federation. According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, she reportedly died<\/a> on 19 September 2024 while being transferred from Taganrog to Moscow for a prisoner exchange<\/a>. She was 27 years old. Roshchyna reported exclusively on the Russian Federation\u2019s war against Ukraine for several Ukrainian outlets and notably covered the siege of Mariupol. Previously, in March 2022, she was captured by Russian forces and held for 10 days in Berdyansk.<\/p>\n

The Russian authorities have repeatedly refused to provide information about Roshchyna\u2019s death. Her body was eventually repatriated to Ukraine in February 2025. The Viktoriia Project, a joint investigation<\/a> by media outlets published on 29 April 2025, revealed that Roshchyna had been repetitively subjected to torture while in Russian custody, \u2018including abrasions and haemorrhages on various parts of the body, a broken rib, neck injuries, and possible electric shock marks on her feet\u2019.\u00a0 According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General\u2019s office, Roshchyna\u2019s body had been returned \u2018with signs of an autopsy that was performed before arrival in Ukraine\u2019 and missing certain organs \u2013\u202fpossibly to hide the cause of death. A war crimes investigation has been opened with a view to prosecuting those responsible.<\/p>\n

At least 16,000 Ukrainians, including civilians and prisoners of war, are reportedly detained<\/a> in the Russian Federation and Russian-occupied Ukraine. A harrowing report<\/a> published by Amnesty International in March 2025 documents how the Russian authorities systematically subject them to torture, prolonged incommunicado detention, enforced disappearance and other inhumane treatment, which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. A culture of impunity continues to embolden perpetrators.<\/p>\n

At least 16 journalists have been killed<\/a> by Russian forces in Ukraine while carrying out their professional duties since 24 February 2022. PEN International utterly condemns the violence unleashed by Russian forces against Ukraine and urges the Russian Federation to immediately end the war in Ukraine. The Russian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release all those held solely for peacefully expressing their views, including writers and journalists.\u202f PEN International further reiterates calls on the international community to support all efforts to ensure accountability for the people of Ukraine and hold all perpetrators of human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity to account. Survivors must be provided with full reparation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Note to editors:<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more information about PEN Ukraine\u2019s work, including on behalf of Viktoria Roshchyna, please click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more information about PEN International\u2019s work on Ukraine and the Russian Federation please see Identity on Trial: Persecution and Resistance<\/em><\/a> \u2013 its Case List 2025.<\/p>\n

For further details contact Aur\u00e9lia Dondo,<\/strong> Head of Europe and Central Asia Region at PEN International:\u202fAurelia.dondo@pen-international.org<\/a><\/p>\n

For media queries, please contact\u202f Sabrina Tucci<\/strong>, PEN International Communications and Campaigns Manager,\u202f\u202fSabrina.Tucci@pen-international.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PEN Belarus joins the\u00a0statement of PEN International about torture and death in custody of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna. \u201cPEN International utterly condemns the horrific torture of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who died in Russian custody. As the Russian authorities are trying to cover up their crimes and continue to act with blatant impunity, we renew<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":18997,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4201],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solidarity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18996"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19001,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18996\/revisions\/19001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}