MPs send appeal to President Zelenskyy to award journalist Victoria Roshchina Hero of Ukraine title (posthumously)

Members of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported the appeal to award journalist Victoria Roshchina the title of Hero of Ukraine. A total of 246 MPs supported the respective decision, according to Suspilne.

Victoria Roshchina worked at Ukrainian Radio, UA:Pershyi, Hromadske, Ukrainska Pravda, Novosti Donbassa, Censor.net, and Radio Svoboda. In 2022, she received the International Women’s Media Fund award “For Courage in Journalism.”

In March 2022, the russian military detained her in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine but then released her. In the summer of 2022, Roshchina tried to enter the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine for the second time, but on August 3, she disappeared.

Victoria‘s death was announced on October 10, 2024. The russians informed Roshchina‘s family that she had died on September 19, 2024. The representative of the Main Intelligence Department, Andrii Yusov, stated that Victoria Roshchina was on the exchange list and was due to return home soon.

On April 24, 2025, it was announced that Victoria Roshchina‘s body had been returned to Ukraine.

The Forbidden Stories investigation states that the body of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchina was returned without some of her internal organs. A bruise on her neck indicates a possible hyoid bone fracture, a rare fracture usually associated with strangulation, according to a Forbidden Stories source close to the official investigation. Ukrainian investigators are still refraining from assessing the cause of death.