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IPI Demands Justice for Viktoria Roshchyna’s Death in Russian Custody
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The International Press Institute (IPI) has renewed its call for justice over the death of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna and the release of 27 journalists Russia still holds.
The demand was published by the IPI’s official website on September 18.
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The statement marked two years since her death and stressed that, of 16 journalists killed while reporting from Ukraine since February 24, 2022, Roshchyna remains the only one to have died in Russian custody during the war.
Roshchyna, a freelance journalist, died on September 19, 2024, after more than a year in Russian captivity. She was 27. After her remains were returned to Ukraine in February 2025, forensic examiners found the body mutilated, with some internal organs removed—possibly to conceal evidence of torture, according to IPI.
The institute noted that Russian authorities have not cooperated with a Ukrainian criminal investigation and refuse to explain how she died or to address allegations that she was tortured.
Those allegations are supported by two separate inquiries. An April 2025 investigation by the Viktoriia Project found numerous signs of torture on the body identified as Roshchyna's. In May 2026, Ukraine's National Police reported that her occipital bone had been broken while she was held at the SIZO No. 2 detention facility in Taganrog, Russia.
Roshchyna disappeared into Russia's secret prison system in August 2023, after traveling to Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine's southeast to investigate war crimes.
Nearly a year passed before Russian authorities confirmed they were holding her on undisclosed charges, and they never disclosed where she had been seized or detained.
She is believed to have died after a transfer to a facility known as SIZO No. 3 in Kizel, possibly while en route to Moscow for a prisoner exchange.
In October 2025, IPI named her a 2025 World Press Freedom Hero for her investigative work on the Russian occupation. She was also posthumously awarded Ukraine's Order of Freedom.
"Victoria Roshchyna paid the ultimate price for her dedication to ensuring the stories of her fellow citizens living under occupation were heard by the world," IPI Executive Director Scott Griffen stated. "IPI will keep demanding justice for Victoria, and we call on the international community to press for the release of every journalist Russia is holding," he added.
As of August 2026, 27 Ukrainian journalists remained imprisoned in Russia, many facing politically motivated charges of "terrorism" or "espionage," according to IPI.
Russian authorities detained about half of them after the full-scale invasion, in some cases filing no public charges and denying the imprisonments outright, leaving the journalists incommunicado.
While Russia and Ukraine regularly exchange prisoners of war, releases of civilians remain far less frequent. Four Ukrainian journalists returned home in June, July, and August 2025, and Russia included no journalists among the 120 civilians it freed in May 2026.
Roshchyna’s death is a stark example of the widespread abuse that occurs within Russia’s detention system.
Earlier reports revealed the execution of 129 Ukrainian prisoners of war shortly after capture, and 48 further deaths in custody from torture or denial of medical care have been documented since the invasion began.
More than 95% of interviewed captives have reported torture or ill-treatment. More than 300 detention sites have been identified across Russia and occupied territory, and while 9,716 Ukrainians have been returned since February 2022, thousands remain held incommunicado.
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