The body of Victoria Roschyna was not returned to Ukraine during the repatriation on October 18

Russia has not yet handed over the body of journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity, to Ukraine.

Petro Yatsenko, a representative of the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, reported this in a comment to "Babel".

"During the last repatriation of bodies on October 18, the Russian side did not hand over the body of Viktoria Roshchyna. The coordination headquarters continues negotiations on repatriation," he said.

Yatsenko added that it is too early to talk about a possible return date.

The capture and death of Viktoria Roshchyna

The first time Victoria Roschyna was captured by the Russians was in March 2022. She was traveling from Zaporizhzhia to Mariupol, and ended up in occupied Berdyansk, where she was held for 10 days. There, the journalist was forced to record a video denying claims to Russia.

Within a year, on August 3, 2023, Roschyna disappeared in the temporarily occupied territories, from where she was supposed to report. After August 3, Victoria did not contact her. In May 2024, Russia confirmed that it was again holding her captive.

On October 10, it became known that Roshchyna died during the staging from Taganrog to Moscow. What caused her death and when it happened were not reported.

In a comment to "Babel", the representative of the State of Ukraine, Andriy Yusov, said that Ukraine had already agreed on Roschynaʼs return home and that she should return to Ukraine in the near future.

On October 11, the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office reclassified the criminal proceedings opened based on the fact of her disappearance, adding part 2 of Art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is a violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with intentional murder.

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