Overview

• Viktoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist who disappeared in August 2023, was held in Russian detention for over a year before her death was confirmed in September 2024.
• Her remains, returned to Ukraine in February 2025, were mislabeled as an 'unidentified male' and showed signs of torture, including abrasions, broken ribs, electric shock marks, and a suspected hyoid bone fracture.
• Forensic experts found that her brain, eyeballs, and part of her trachea were missing, potentially to obscure evidence of strangulation or suffocation.
• Ukrainian authorities have classified her detention and death as a war crime and are pursuing international forensic analyses to determine the exact cause of death.
• Roshchyna's case highlights broader concerns about human rights abuses, including torture and inhumane conditions in Russian detention facilities holding Ukrainian civilians.