THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
“Every day spent in the hands of the occupiers is a threat to the lives of our colleagues,” National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU)
On September 17, the information service of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) prepared a material designed to once again draw the attention of the world public to the case of 27-year-old journalist Viktoria Roshchina, who was held captive by the russians. We asked Viktoria‘s father, Volodymyr Mykhailovych, for a comment, but he asked to postpone the publication – negotiations about her exchange were going on at the time, and the Ukrainian negotiators needed informational silence… We hoped that soon, we would be able to communicate with Viktoria herself on Ukrainian soil. But – that never happened… Two days after that, on September 19, 2024, during the preparation of the exchange, she died.
“Detained and in the territory of the russian federation”
Viktoria Roshchina (October 6, 1996 – September 19, 2024) worked in journalism from the age of 16. She wrote on the topics of crime, human rights activities, and the judicial system. She was amazingly brave. When in 2018, near the shores of the annexed Crimea, the russian military detained Ukrainian sailors, Viktoria went to Moscow to shoot a film about them. During the full-scale war, in 2022, she made materials from occupied Enerhodar, from Crimea, from Mariupol.
Viktoria was detained several times in the occupied territories – and each time while performing her journalistic duties (Roshchina worked for Hromadske, Ukrayinska Pravda online publication and a number of other publications). On March 7, 2022, her car was fired upon by a russian tank. Soon, the journalist was detained by the russian military, but she managed to escape. In a few days, she was captured again in Berdiansk and kept in prison for about a week; all this time, Viktoria refused to eat the food brought by the prison workers. She was last detained in August 2023 in the Donetsk or Zaporizhzhia Regions – and was never released again.
“I remember how I begged her before leaving: “Dear daughter, don’t go, you don’t have to! Let me pay for your trip.” I hoped that this might somehow stop her. But she just replied: “No, dad, I need it.” That’s all. Journalism is her whole life,” Viktoria‘s father later recalled.
After disappearing in the occupied territories, her fate was a symbol of the struggle for freedom of the press and the rights of journalists in the conditions of war for more than a year. International organizations, the NUJU, Ukrainian officials and fellow journalists joined forces, demanding her immediate release and drawing attention to the problem of the illegal detention of media workers by the russian authorities.
The last time Viktoria Roshchina contacted her loved ones was on August 3, 2023. At that time, she was preparing to make a report about the life of the local population under the conditions of occupation. After that, contact with her was cut off.
In the months that followed, Viktoria‘s family, colleagues and human rights organizations tried to find out where she was. The International Press Institute and the International Women’s Media Foundation, which honored Roshchina with the Courage in Journalism award, expressed concern over her disappearance and called on russia to find out the whereabouts of the journalist.
Representatives of the NUJU spoke about the situation with Viktoria Roshchina at all levels – from Ukrainian to international.
Thus, on October 17, 2023, the NUJU joined the support action for captive women, organized by the SEMA Ukraine non-governmental organization. The NUJU reminded everyone present that at that time it was known about three female journalists who were kidnapped by the russian military and imprisoned during a large-scale invasion: Iryna Danylovych, Iryna Levchenko and Viktoria Roshchina.
During an action in support of captive women on October 17, 2023. Photo by NUJUOn November 2, 2023, at the call of the NUJU, the participants in the action of solidarity with imprisoned journalists signed postcards of solidarity with imprisoned journalists. “Viktoria Roshchina, hold on! You are strong! You will do it! We believe in our soonest meeting!” – wrote the participants in the action… Soon, on the initiative of the NUJU, a similar event took place in the city of Dnipro. In their letters of solidarity, journalists expressed their support for Viktoria and her father Volodymyr Mykhailovych.
In March 2024, human rights defender, citizen journalist, communications director of SEMA Ukraine, Liudmyla Huseinova, spoke about Viktoria‘s case during the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York. Roshchina‘s case was included in the lists of journalists imprisoned by russia maintained by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the U.S. Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Inquiries to the occupation authorities of Mariupol, the russian prosecutor general’s office, the investigative committee and the ombudsman remained unanswered or with formal rejections.
It was not until April 17, 2024, more than 250 days after Viktoria‘s disappearance, that her father received official confirmation from the russian ministry of defense. The letter, prepared by the russian military police, stated: “According to the available information, Viktoria Volodymyrivna Roshchina, born October 6, 1996, has been detained and is currently in the territory of the russian federation.”
The confirmation, although long-awaited, sparked a new wave of outrage among the journalistic and international community and intensified calls for the immediate release of Viktoria and other detained journalists.
NUJU: “Journalists’ job is to cover the truth, not to suffer for it in prisons”
“The NUJU demands the immediate and unconditional release of Viktoria Roshchina and all illegally detained Ukrainian journalists,” Sergiy Tomilenko, the President of the NUJU, emphasized, speaking at the congress (annual meeting) of the EFJ. “Every day of their stay in captivity is a blow to freedom of speech and basic human rights. We call on the international community to increase pressure on the russian authorities and use all possible diplomatic channels for the release of our colleagues. Journalists should not be held hostage in this war. Their job is to reveal the truth, not to suffer for it in prisons.”
On May 30, 2024, the International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) issued a statement expressing deep concern about the situation with Viktoria Roshchina and the general state of press freedom in the Ukrainian territories occupied by russia.
“We are in full solidarity with Viktoria Roshchina and all journalists who are under constant pressure from the Kremlin,” the statement reads. The IFJ and EFJ emphasized that thousands of Ukrainian civilians, including journalists, are currently in russian captivity without grounds, court charges and access to a lawyer.
The CPJ also strongly condemned the detention of Viktoria Roshchina. Gulnoza Said, CPJ‘s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, said: “The CPJ strongly condemns the detention by russian authorities of journalist Viktoria Roshchina, who went missing while reporting on the russian-occupied territory of Ukraine.” Gulnoza Said also emphasized that journalists should be able to freely report on the war without fear of reprisals.
The CPJ representative also emphasized the importance of including Ukrainian captured journalists in the prisoner exchange lists, urging the Ukrainian authorities to pay special attention to this issue.
Campaign of solidarity with imprisoned journalists
The NUJU initiated a campaign of solidarity with captured Ukrainian media workers, among whom was Viktoria Roshchina. The NUJU regularly draws attention to the fate of imprisoned journalists, including Anastasiya Hlukhovska, Iryna Levchenko, Serhii Tsyhipa, Iryna Danylovych, Dmytro Khyliuk, Vladyslav Yesypenko, all illegally convicted Crimean journalists.
On July 19, 2024, the IFJ and EFJ officially joined the NUJU campaign, publishing a statement: “The russian authorities must immediately release illegally detained Ukrainian journalists in the occupied territories.” In their appeal, the Federations emphasized that the case of Viktoria Roshchina was just one of many stories of journalists illegally detained in russian prisons.
Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, the head of the Parliamentary Committee On Freedom Of Speech, announced the approval by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of an important resolution regarding imprisoned journalists. The resolution is an appeal to the UN, European Parliament, NATO, OSCE, Reporters Without Borders and other international organizations with a request to help in the liberation of journalists, including Viktoria Roshchina. Yurchyshyn emphasized: “The names of Vladyslav Yesypenko, Dmytro Khyliuk, Viktoria Roshchina, Iryna Danylovych should be heard by the whole world, because they are illegally held in russian prisons. Only international publicity and pressure from the world’s most authoritative organizations can influence russia.”
International organizations emphasized that the role of the media in covering conflicts is vital. Journalists like Viktoria Roshchina bear witness to the actions of combatants and their impact on civilians, risking their own freedom and safety for the sake of the truth.
And on August 30, 2024, the International Day of Missing Persons, more than 400 native prisoners and missing persons gathered in the capital exhibition center Ukrainian House for the presentation of the photo exhibition United Hearts of Families of Missing Persons and Prisoners. The event was organized by the NUJU together with the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) to remind once again about those Ukrainians who are currently in russian custody. None of the participants in the event were left indifferent by the emotional and disturbing photos of the photo exhibition, realized with the support of the International Commission on Missing Persons within the framework of the project United Hearts of Families of Missing Persons and Prisoners. During the presentation, a banner with the logo of this project was installed at the location of the photo exhibition, and everyone wrote and attached to it short wishes, words of support for relatives…
The international community demands an investigation into the death of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchina
“Viktoria was held in Taganrog at least from May to September 2024. In solitary confinement,” Tetyana Katrychenko, executive director of the Media Initiative for Human Rights, wrote on the social network.
She noted: the journalist was held, in particular, in Taganrog pre-trial detention center No. 2 – “hell on earth” for Ukrainian prisoners. Viktoria was to be included in one of the upcoming prisoner exchanges, Andrii Yusov, the spokesperson for the main intelligence agency, said in a comment to Suspilne.
On October 10, 2024, Viktoria Roshchina‘s father received a message about his daughter’s death. According to official information from the russian authorities, this happened during the staging process from Taganrog to Moscow. It was also reported that her body would be returned “to the Ukrainian side as part of the exchange of bodies of detainees.” The cause of death was not specified. The Prosecutor General’s Office qualifies the journalist’s death as a war crime combined with intentional murder. The main investigative department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) is conducting the investigation.
“Russian captivity kills. Neither journalistic activity, nor confirmation of detention, nor anything else can save,” adds Tetiana Katrychenko.
… “It was never easy with Vika (Viktoria),” – the French “Libération” quotes one of her former editors, whom she added gray hairs because of the danger of her investigations.
“Fanatic devotion to work, a crazy desire to punish or at least expose all the scum of this world,” is how her former editor-in-chief, Dmytro Hnap, characterizes Roshchina.
“Gold medalist, scientist, very bright, positive girl,” Oksana Zaitseva, her compatriot from Kryvyi Rih, wrote about Viktoria on a social network.
The death of Viktoria Roshchina in russian captivity caused a huge resonance in the world. “Russia shows even greater cruelty today than in Soviet times,” Libération reacted to the tragedy.
“The USSR was afraid of having a bad reputation abroad. Today’s russia does not pay attention to this,” emphasizes philosopher Volodymyr Yermolenko.
“The European Union demands a thorough and independent investigation that will clarify all the circumstances of Viktoria Roshchina‘s death as soon as possible,” the European External Relations Service said in a statement.
The CPJ is shocked by the news of the death of Viktoria Roshchina during her illegal imprisonment by russia. “The responsibility for her death lies with the russian authorities, who detained her because she dared to report the truth about the russian-Ukrainian war,” said Gulnoza Said, a representative of the organization. The CPJ called on the Ukrainian and russian authorities to do everything possible to investigate Roshchina‘s death.
The IFJ and EFJ, together with the NUJU and the National Media Trade Union of Ukraine, condemned russia and called for an immediate investigation into the death of Viktoria Roshchina. The IFJ and EFJ stated: “The IFJ and EFJ, together with their member organizations, fought relentlessly for the release of Roshchina and all Ukrainian journalists held captive by russia. Roshchina‘s death is a tragedy. We call on the authorities to conduct an independent investigation into Roshchina‘s death with clear and transparent explanations. All our support goes to her family and to the journalists in captivity who must be freed.”
…On October 11, an event in memory of Viktoria Roshchina took place in Kyiv. About half a hundred media persons came to Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti) in the evening with portraits of Viktoria.
“We are deeply shocked by the death of our colleague Viktoria Roshchina,” says the President of the NUJU, Sergiy Tomilenko. “Her death highlights the serious danger journalists are facing under occupation. We call for an immediate and thorough international investigation into the russian captivity and the circumstances of her death. In addition, we call on the international community to increase pressure on russia to ensure the release of all Ukrainian journalists illegally detained by the occupiers.”
Created as part of the project “Raising awareness among target groups in Ukraine and abroad about Russian war crimes against journalists in 2024 and increasing public pressure for the release of captured journalists”, which is implemented by the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine with support of the Swedish non-profit human rights organization Civil Rights Defenders.
NUJU Information Service
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