The International Press Institute (IPI) is deeply alarmed by the disappearance of journalist Victoria Roshchyna in Russia-occupied territory of Ukraine, and calls for occupying forces to immediately clarify her whereabouts and condition.
Roshchyna, a freelance journalist with Ukrainska Pravda, a major Ukrainian publication, has been missing for over two months since she first set out for Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine at the end of July.
Multiple Ukrainian journalists have expressed their fear that Roshchyna is most likely being held by Russian forces.
Ukrainska Pravda editor Sevhil Musayeva told IPI that Roshchyna had informed her of her plan to travel but that she had not provided any further details. “Victoria was from the Zaporizhia region,” Musayeva explained. “She saw it as her mission to tell the stories of the people under occupation and when fears grew that the Russian military may be planning to blow up the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, she wanted to go.” Musayeva added that she had not authorised her trip because it was both dangerous and illegal under Ukrainian law to send journalists to the occupied territories, which can currently only be accessed through Russia.
Roshchyna was one of the very few Ukrainian journalists to travel to Russian-occupied territories to cover the impact of the war. In March 2022, she was taken captive by Russian forces while reporting near Mariupol, when the city was under a prolonged siege by Russian forces. She was released a week later and continued working as a journalist from Kyiv.
“We are deeply alarmed about the disappearance of Victoria Roshchyna and call on the Russian authorities to share what they know of her whereabouts,” said Oliver Money-Kyrle, Head of European Advocacy at the International Press Institute. “Everything must be done to ensure her safety and speedy return from Russian-controlled territory.”
Anton Naumliuk, editor of the Ukrainian media outlet Graty, which reports on Crimea and other occupied Ukrainian territories, believes Roshchyna was most likely detained by Russian secret services. Speaking to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), Naumliuk said that all the Crimean prisons he had contacted denied all knowledge of her. Inquiries to prisons across the border in Russia as well as Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, where WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich is being held, had also drawn a blank.
At least two other Ukrainian journalists detained by Russian forces
In May 2023, Russian occupying authorities in Melitopol detained retired journalist Iryna Levchenko, as well as her husband. Charges against them have not been officially confirmed but reports have suggested that they could be facing extremism-related charges.
Another Ukrainian journalist, Dmytro Khyliuk, has also been in Russian detention since March 2022. Khyliuk, a correspondent for Ukrainian news agency UNIAN, was detained in the northern region of Chernihiv when the area was under Russian occupation. The only contact Khyliuk has had with his family in the eighteen months since his detention was one short message passed on by Russian prison authorities several months after his arrest.
Ukrainian authorities recognize Dmytro Khyliuk, Iryna Levchenko and her husband as civilian hostages. However, while prisoner of war exchanges regularly take place between Ukraine and Russia, no such procedure has yet been put in place for civilians. As a result, the prospects for the release of journalists and other civilians detained by Russian authorities are highly uncertain.
