What Happened To Viktoria Roshchyna? Russia Returns Ukrainian Journalist’s Body With Organs Missing

The body of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who died while she was in Russian custody, has several internal organs missing, raising concerns that evidence of torture or the real cause of her death may have been deliberately hidden, according to an investigation by Ukrainian authorities, as reported by TVP World.

Roshchyna, 27, was captured by Russian forces in August 2023 while she was reporting from Enerhodar, a city in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region. She was working as a freelance journalist for Ukrainska Pravda, covering the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war from the front lines. Moscow confirmed her detention in May 2024, as per TVP.

She was scheduled to be included in a prisoner exchange in September 2024. However, Russian authorities later told Ukraine that she had died in custody on September 19. Her remains were then returned to Ukraine in February 2025 as part of another exchange, although the transfer was not publicly revealed until her identity was confirmed, TVP reports.

According to Ukrainian investigators, the body was initially misidentified in Russian records as an “unidentified male.” A forensic review confirmed the remains were female, and the DNA testing matched them to Roshchyna with 99% certainty.

A report published on Tuesday by Ukrainska Pravda, citing the investigative team, stated that Roshchyna’s body had undergone an autopsy in Russia before being returned. Several organs, including the brain, eyeballs, and part of the trachea, were missing. An international forensic expert told Ukrainska Pravda that the organs may have been removed to hide evidence of torture or obscure the real cause of death, which investigators think could have been strangulation or suffocation.

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Although Russian documents listed "cumulative damage to the arteries of the heart" as the cause of death, the state of the body has made it hard to confirm how she actually died.

Yurii Belousov, head of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office war crimes department, told Ukrainska Pravda that Roshchyna's body had multiple signs of abuse, including abrasions, bruises, a broken rib, and indications of possible electric shock. "The bodily injuries were inflicted during her lifetime. Therefore, there is a high probability that torture was applied to her," Belousov said.

Earlier reports by the Ukrainian NGO Media Initiative for Human Rights stated that Roshchyna had been held at two facilities which are known for detainee abuse, Penal Colony No. 77 in Berdiansk and a detention center in Taganrog, Russia.

The investigation into her death remains ongoing.

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