Mourners gather in Kyiv for funeral of journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna

Globe and Mail

5 days ago

The bells of St. Michael's golden-domed monastery rang out Ukraine's national anthem over central Kyiv on Friday as mourners gathered to say goodbye to journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna. Inside the cathedral, family, friends, colleagues and strangers stood shoulder to shoulder for the funeral service.
When the service ended, the hearse bearing her body began its journey toward Independence Square, accompanied by a long column of people. 'Glory to the heroes! Glory to Viktoriia!' the crowd chanted, their voices carrying down Mykhailivska Street. The street fell silent; passersby stopped, some bowing their heads.
Ms. Roshchyna, who had built her career covering crime and human rights, turned her focus after Russia's full-scale invasion to reporting from occupied territories. The 27-year-old journalist disappeared on Aug. 3, 2023, while on assignment in Russian-controlled areas. Nearly one year later, in May, 2024, Russian authorities confirmed she had been detained. In October, officials said she had died during a prison transfer from Taganrog to Moscow.
Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence said Ms. Roshchyna had been on a list for a prisoner exchange. Sevgil Musaieva, editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian online outlet Ukrainska Pravda, where Ms. Roshchyna had been freelancing since the early days of the Russian invasion described her as someone who 'served the public with absolute dedication and courage.' Despite warnings to stay away from Russian-occupied areas, she 'kept returning, determined to ensure that the stories of people living under temporary occupation were heard.'
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Her body was returned to Ukraine months later. Forensic experts documented evidence of extensive torture, surgical incisions, and the absence of her brain, eyes and part of her trachea, according to the Viktoriia Project, an investigation by Paris-based Forbidden Stories.
Ms. Roschyna preferred to work alone, relying only on herself. 'She began learning photography, video, even graphic design,' said Angelina Kariakina, the former head of online news outlet Hromadske, where Ms. Roschyna worked as a reporter for about five years. 'She was loved, and still is.'
'I never heard her say she was hungry, or that she wanted to sleep. She never took vacations or days off,' Ms. Kariakina said. The only thing the late journalist ever complained about, Ms. Kariakina added, was limited access to information.
For Ms. Roshchyna, her most recent Russian captivity was not her first. In March, 2022, while reporting from the then newly-occupied city of Berdyansk, she was detained by the Russian Federal Security Service. She was held for 10 days, coerced into recording a video statement, and eventually released.
Her dispatches from occupied territories earned international recognition. That same year, her work was shortlisted for the Courage in Journalism Awards by the International Women's Media Foundation.
In the summer of 2023, Ms. Roshchyna reported on the case of two 16-year-old boys — Tigran Ohanesyan and Mykyta Khanganov — who were shot and killed in Berdyansk. 'She was relentless,' said Sevgil Musaieva, editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian online outlet Ukrainska Pravda. 'She demanded that the Russian-installed authorities return their bodies.'
Ms. Musaieva noted that colleagues and friends had pleaded with Ms. Roshchyna not to travel to the occupied zone. 'We told her that reporting on the occupied territories was still possible without going there physically,' she recalled. 'But Viktoriia wouldn't listen.'
Among those who came to bid farewell to Ms. Roshchyna on Friday was Russian journalist Viktoria Ivleva — a woman who had first met the young Ukrainian reporter during court hearings for captured Ukrainian sailors in Moscow. Their last encounter was in the summer of 2022, in the embattled city of Lysychansk, where Ms. Roshchyna was covering the Russian invasion.
'I told her, 'Vika, come with us. It's getting too dangerous,'' Ms. Ivleva recalled. 'But she said, 'No, I'll stay a little longer.' And I knew that this 'little longer' kept stretching every time,' she said.
Colleagues of Ms. Roshchyna say their mission now is clear: to identify those responsible for her death and ensure they are held to account. On August 7, Ukrainian police announced that a former head of Remand Prison No. 2 in Taganrog, Rostov Region, has been formally charged in connection with Ms. Roshchyna's death. Investigators say the official directly ordered his subordinates to torture the journalist while she was held in custody.
According to police, Ms. Roshchyna was subjected to systemic abuse during her detention — including physical punishment, threats, psychological pressure, and severe restrictions on access to medical care, food, drinking water, or the ability to sleep or sit during the day.
Authorities documented multiple violations of international humanitarian law, gathered witness testimony, reconstructed the chronology of her illegal detention and transfer, and confirmed the conditions she endured.
The investigation remains ongoing.