Overview

• Forensic investigations confirmed a 99% DNA match identifying the mutilated body as journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who went missing in Russian-occupied Ukraine in August 2023.
• Roshchyna’s remains, returned from Russia in February, were mislabeled as an 'unidentified male' and showed evidence of torture, including broken ribs, electric shock marks, and missing organs such as her brain and eyes.
• Ukrainian authorities classified her death as a war crime involving premeditated murder and have called for international accountability for systemic abuses in Russian detention centers.
• The findings from Project Viktoria, a joint investigation by Ukrainska Pravda and Forbidden Stories, revealed attempts to conceal evidence of torture through organ removal, intensifying calls for global condemnation.
• Ukraine has presented the case to the United Nations, highlighting the broader risks faced by journalists in conflict zones and systemic human rights violations by Russian forces.