It has been 50 days since a 27-year-old Ukrainian journalist died while imprisoned at a Russian detention facility dubbed “hell on Earth” – but her family and friends are still waiting for the Kremlin to release her body so they can give her a proper funeral.
Authorities in Russia have not explained why they are yet to return the body of award-winning journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who went missing in August last year, with Ukrainian officials and her ex-colleagues telling The Independent they are concerned the delay could help cover up the cause of her death.
Russia has previously been accused of silencing critics such as opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison in the Arctic Circle on 16 February this year. The Russian government has repeatedly denied killing political opponents and attributed Navalny’s death to “disease”, but his family and a number of Western governments have said Russia most likely poisoned him.
Roshchyna, described by her former colleagues as an unstoppable force, chased stories from the frontline about ordinary people caught in the middle of the Russian invasion. Her father was notified of her death by the Russian authorities in a letter on 19 September.
Ukraine confirmed her death on 10 October, stating she died while being transported from a detention facility in southern Russia’s Taganrog to Moscow. The Taganrog facility is described as a “hell on Earth” for captive Ukrainians, with beatings routinely reported by former prisoners, says Tetiana Katrychenko, executive director at the Media Initiative for Human Rights, a Ukrainian rights group tracking Roshchyna’s case.
The journalist was first reported to have disappeared while reporting from Russia-occupied Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region in August last year. Her father said she called him for the last time on 3 August but shortly after that they lost contact with her.
“From our sources, we know that she remained in Zaporizhzhia region and was free at least until 20 August. Around 20-22 August, she met with a man who was asked to help her move around the area,” Ms Katrychenko said.
Roshchyna’s father finally received a letter from Russian officials in April this year, dated 17 April and received on 22 April, saying she was alive and in their detention.
“Victoria is a professional journalist, and her presence in the occupied territory angered Russia. No Ukrainian journalist has worked in the occupied territories; none have gone into occupation,” said Ms Katrychenko.
Nearly 50 days after Roshchyna’s death, Vladimir Putin’s officials have not disclosed what happened to Roshchyna, who would have turned 28 next month. Ukrainian authorities suspect Russia might be delaying the return of her body “until it would be very difficult to investigate the cause of her death”.
“At the moment we are negotiating with Russian officials, but our experience of tedious prisoner of war exchanges shows us that Russia is never in a hurry to return the bodies of those killed in the Ukraine war,” says Petro Yatsenko, spokesperson for the Ukrainian coordination centre for the treatment of prisoners of war. “They will postpone the repatriation of Victoria’s body for as long as possible.
“We are still waiting for the handover of the bodies of prisoners of war who Russia claims died during the Ilyushin-76 military plane crash earlier this year in January,” he told The Independent. In death Roshchyna poses no threat to Russia and yet Moscow is still refusing to repatriate her body, he added.
Mr Yatsenko said that in the absence of any formal statement by Russia detailing the reason, it is understood that something happened to the young journalist while she was being transferred from one pre-detention facility to another in Russia. “Taganrog facility is well known for its horrible torture and inhumane behaviour towards the Ukrianian prisoners of war,” he said.
“She was very brave, determined and focused in her work but she was very skinny. In the Russian places of detention, there is no regret, no pity for people… especially Ukrainians. It is very hard to survive that colony,” the Ukrainian official said.
