The Ukrainian authorities announced that they had received official confirmation of the death of journalist Wiktoria Roszczyna. In 2023, she was abducted by Russians in the occupied territories of Ukraine. She died in a Russian prison. European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said on Friday that the EC is horrified by reports of the death of a Ukrainian journalist during her unlawful detention in Russia.
The circumstances of the death of 27-year-old Roszczyna are still unknown. All we know is that she was supposed to die on September 19, and her death was officially confirmed on Thursday by the Ukrainian human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinec.
“I have official confirmation from Russia of the death of journalist Wiktoria Roszczyna, illegally deprived of her liberty by Russia. Sincere condolences to her relatives and loved ones,” Lubinec wrote on Telegram on Thursday evening.
Roszczyna disappeared in the territories occupied by Russia last August, where she was preparing press reports. She was wanted by her family and appropriate services. After nine months, in May this year, Russian authorities confirmed that he was in prison in their country. Lubinec recalled that Roszczyna was illegally taken prisoner by the Russians. The circumstances of her death are unknown. The Russian website reported that she died on September 19.
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Journalist kidnapped by Russia
The head of the commission for freedom of speech in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Jarosław Yurchyshyn, said that Wiktoria Roszczyna’s parents received notification of their daughter’s death.
Earlier on Thursday, the media wrote about the journalist’s death, including: portal Ukraińska Pravda, with which she cooperated. “I still can’t gather my thoughts and believe it. Wika was incredibly brave. She touched upon the most difficult topics. It was important for her to talk about Ukrainians in the occupied territories. It was impossible to stop her or stop her. She completely devoted herself to journalism,” recalled the editor-in-chief of Ukraińska The truths of Sevgil Musayev.
Reports that Roszczyna died during a prison transport from Taganrog to Moscow have not been officially confirmed yet. In an interview with the Suspilne TV portal, the representative of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Andriy Yusov, said that Roshchyna was on the prisoner exchange lists and it was expected that he would return to Ukraine soon.
European Commission “terrified”
– The European Union is horrified by reports of the death of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna during her unlawful, arbitrary detention in Russia. Our thoughts are with her family, friends and colleagues, said European Commission spokesman Peter Stano during a briefing in Brussels on Friday.
He stressed that the EU unconditionally condemns killings, physical attacks, unlawful detentions and other forms of intimidation and violence against journalists faced in the performance of their professional duties, especially in times of conflict, not only in Ukraine. – Human rights violations and abuses against journalists cannot go unpunished. This has been the position of the European Union for a long time, he declared.
When asked whether the EU is able to do anything to protect the safety of prisoners, including political ones, in Russian prisons, the spokesman recalled that Russia remains a member of the UN, so it is obliged to comply with international law, including the Geneva Convention. – Russia should also be bound by its own constitution, which also guarantees the rights of people detained and imprisoned, including the right to well-being and physical and mental safety. Russia has an obligation to honor the obligations it has voluntarily accepted, Stano said.
The spokesman admitted that the EU is aware of the fact that the Kremlin is not respecting these obligations, therefore the international community should be mobilized to call on Moscow to stop violating international law, including humanitarian law and the United Nations Charter, and to put pressure on the Russian regime to do so. ended these illegal practices.
She disappeared in the occupied territories
Wiktoria Roszczyna would have turned 28 on October 6. Since the outbreak of Russian aggression, she has cooperated with a number of Ukrainian media, including the portals Ukraińska Pravda, Censor, Radio Svoboda and the Hromadske and Suspilne television stations. She prepared publications about military operations in the east and south of Ukraine, and reported on the events from Berdyansk in the Zaporizhia Oblast in March 2022. She was then detained in this city by officers of the Federal Security Service. After 10 days she was released.
After her disappearance, Sevgil Musaeva appealed to the Ukrainian authorities to “do everything possible to find the journalist” and to the Russian authorities to “immediately release the reporter.”
photo-source">Main photo source: ukrpravda_news/X
