A few days before her death, Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna was transferred from Taganrog to a detention center in the city of Kizel, in the Perm region of Russia.
This is stated in the investigation by Slidstvo.Info.
The Prosecutor Generalʼs Office informed journalists that the captive journalist died on September 19, 2024, in pre-trial detention center No. 3 in the city of Kizel, Perm Territory, Russia.
It was previously known that Roshchyna was held in the occupied territories and in Taganrog, and the place of her death remained unknown.
The date of death is confirmed by a death certificate obtained by investigators from closed Russian bases. It was issued by the Leninsky Department of the Civil Registry Office of the Perm City Administration.
The Prosecutor Generalʼs Office of Ukraine said that Victoriaʼs death occurred directly in the Kizelsk detention center — she had been there for less than two weeks. The official investigation is still determining the cause of death, as Roshchynaʼs body was returned to Ukraine in a condition that did not allow for a full-fledged forensic examination.
Journalists also spoke with Danil, a soldier released from captivity, who said that Roshchyna was sent from Taganrog to Kizel 8 days before her death. The staging lasted from September 9 to 11.
According to the military man, he was traveling with Viktoria on the same train.
"She walked there, they took her to the toilet. She was very thin, her bones were already there," recalls Danylo, adding that newly arrived prisoners were brutally tortured in the Kizel detention center.
The capture and death of Viktoria Roshchyna
Viktoria Roshchyna was first captured by the Russians in March 2022. She was traveling from Zaporizhzhia to Mariupol, but ended up in occupied Berdyansk, where she was held for 10 days. There, the journalist was forced to record a video saying that she did not blame Russia.
A year later, on August 3, 2023, Roshchyna disappeared in the temporarily occupied territories from where she was supposed to report. After August 3, Victoria did not get in touch. In May 2024, Russia confirmed that it was again holding her captive.
On October 10, it became known that Roshchyna died during a transfer from Taganrog to Moscow. The cause of her death and when it happened were not reported.
The GUR representative Andriy Yusov told Babel that Ukraine already had agreements on Roshchynaʼs return home, and she was supposed to return to Ukraine in the near future.
On October 11, the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office further qualified the criminal proceedings opened into her disappearance, adding Part 2 of Article 438 of the countryʼs Criminal Code — violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder.
Roshchynaʼs body was returned to Ukraine in late February 2025. She was identified through DNA testing. According to the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office, numerous signs of torture and ill-treatment were found on the journalistʼs body. Due to the condition of the body, it was not possible to determine the cause of death.
The international organization Forbidden Stories found out that the journalistʼs body was returned without some internal organs. Presumably, they wanted to hide the cause of her death. Later, the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office reported that they found numerous injuries on the journalistʼs body — bone fractures, hemorrhages in various parts of the body, a broken rib.
On August 8, Kyiv made farewell to a journalist who died in Russian captivity.
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