In the summer of 2023, Victoria Roshchyna, a 27-year-old Ukrainian freelance journalist, left her home in Kyiv and traveled to Russian-occupied Zaporizhia in Ukraine’s southeast on a reporting trip meant to uncover and investigate Russian war crimes. Tragically, she instead became a victim of one of the very crimes she had hoped to expose.
Known for her fearless curiosity and commitment to her work, Victoria had traveled across the front lines of the war several times before. Though she was well aware of the extreme danger, she kept returning. As one of the very few journalists – if not the only one – willing to cross enemy lines, Victoria felt it was her duty as a journalist and Ukrainian to ensure the stories of her fellow citizens living under occupation were heard by the world.
The goal of what would be Victoria’s final reporting trip was an investigation into a network of underground Russian detention facilities within Ukraine’s occupied territory and southern Russia, where Ukrainian civilians were suspected to be held in secret. Shortly after leaving, Victoria went missing. Nearly a year after her disappearance, Russian authorities informed her family that Victoria was indeed in Russian custody, having vanished into the secret prison system she had been seeking to uncover.
On October 10, 2024, Victoria’s family received a short letter from Russian authorities informing them that their daughter had died. She was the first Ukrainian journalist to die in Russian custody.
Upon the return of her remains to Ukraine in February 2025, which had erroneously been marked as an “anonymous male,” forensic experts and medical examiners discovered her body had been mutilated, with some internal organs removed, and was marked with signs of torture.
Victoria paid the ultimate price for her courageous investigative work on the Russian occupation of Ukraine. In recognition of her sacrifice, IPI is honored to name Victoria Roshchyna as one of the distinguished recipients of the 2025 World Press Freedom Hero award, in partnership with International Media Support (IMS).
The World Press Freedom Hero award is given annually to journalists who have made significant contributions to promoting press freedom in the face of great personal cost. Victoria’s death in Russian captivity exposes the brutal crimes that are being perpetrated by Russian forces against the dozens of Ukrainian journalists unjustly held by Russia, and has become a symbol of the risks, and horrors, that journalists face in conflict zones worldwide.
Victoria exemplifies the brave tenacity of so many Ukrainian independent journalists who are covering Russia’s war on Ukraine while also experiencing it. Her legacy continues to fuel calls for urgent protection of the press and accountability for those who commit crimes against journalists – calls that IPI joins as we demand justice for her death and for all attacks on journalists courageously covering the Russian war on Ukraine.
“Victoria Roshchyna was one of the bravest journalists I have met in my entire career. Journalism for her was about serving people, serving society,” said Sevgil Musayeva, editor-in-chief of Ukrainska Pravda. “Thanks to Victoria’s brave work, we were able to understand what is happening in the occupied territories…Her incredible stories will be a part of Ukraine’s legacy.”
“I have to go”
When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Victoria was working as a court reporter for Hromadske, an online outlet. Despite having no prior experience as a war correspondent, Victoria felt compelled to join the war effort, and began making trips to the occupied zones.
After making her first foray into the occupied regions, Victoria hardly left, despite the extreme and constant danger, telling her father before one reporting trip, “I have to go.” As one of the very few local journalists willing to take on such risks, Victoria was able to uncover some of the most underreported stories of the war, which appeared in a variety of leading Ukrainian outlets, including Hromadske, Ukrainska Pravda, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
Much of her work focused on the effects of the war on Ukrainian communities. In one dispatch, Victoria documented the resilience of residents of the occupied Ukrainian city of Enerhodar. In another report, she wrote about local reactions to Russia’s “pseudo-referendum” annexing Ukraine’s Kherson region. She also investigated Russian war crimes, uncovering details of Russia’s systemic kidnapping of Ukrainian children as part of a plan to “reeducate” them, and providing insight into the lives of workers held captive at the occupied Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant.
The danger of Victoria’s work caught up with her several times. On one reporting trip in March 2022, the car Victoria was traveling in – which was marked as a press vehicle – was shot at by Russian soldiers. She managed to escape the car and seek refuge nearby, but had to abandon her reporting equipment, which was subsequently stolen by the Russians. Victoria was also briefly detained by Russian authorities twice before her final capture – once, she was held for ten days.
Aside from the obvious danger, the difficulty of her work was also heightened by her own identity as a Ukrainian, covering conflict in her own country. Yet she continued to return to the occupied territories, her dedication to sharing the truth about Russia’s brutal occupation stronger than any fear of personal consequences.
In messages to her editor before her final reporting trip, Victoria pitched the idea of investigating a shadowy network of Russian detention centers where a suspected 16,000 Ukrainian citizens were believed to be held incommunicado and subjected to torture. Despite her editor’s concerns about the danger, Victoria once again responded: “I have to go.” In her view, if she did not investigate Russia’s suspected war crimes, no one would.
Victoria’s work continues
Weeks before she died, Victoria was allowed a four-minute phone call with her parents, during which she told them she would be home soon. Victoria’s name had been on a list for a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, slated to take place in September. Yet September came and went, and Victoria did not reappear. Russian authorities later claimed Victoria died on September 19, 2024.
This summer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posthumously awarded Victoria the Order of Freedom, for her unwavering belief that freedom will overcome everything. “Viktoria was one of those who spoke the truth about the war,” Zelensky said in a statement announcing the award, which recognizes exceptional contributions to Ukraine’s sovereignty, democracy, and human rights.
Shortly after Victoria’s death was confirmed, Ukrainian officials launched an investigation, treating her case as a war crime. On August 7, 2025, the day before Victoria’s funeral in Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities announced a preliminary inquiry into the director of Russia’s Taganrog prison, where Victoria is believed to have been tortured.
Victoria’s detention has put a spotlight on the urgent plight of the more than 20 journalists currently in Russian custody, many of whom it is suspected are subject to similarly cruel conditions. Her brutal murder illustrates the need for states to be held accountable for their crimes against journalists, in accordance with international law, both in warzones and out.
Without Victoria’s reporting, we would know much less about life within the occupied regions of Ukraine. To carry on her important work, a group of 45 journalists led by Forbidden Stories launched the Viktoriia Project, with the goal of both uncovering the circumstances of her death and continuing her investigative reporting.
In 2022, Victoria was a recipient of the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Courage in Journalism Award. In written remarks accepting the award, she called Ukraine’s journalists “warriors of the information front.” “We have remained faithful to our mission, to convey the truth to the world, countering Russian propaganda,” she wrote. In the end, Victoria dedicated her award to her colleagues killed while reporting on the conflict. “They died in the fight for the truth, trying to record Russian crimes. I thank them.”
The World Press Freedom Hero awards
IPI will present the World Press Freedom Hero awards at a special ceremony on October 24 at the University of Vienna as part of the 2025 IPI World Congress, which annually brings together leading editors and journalists from around the world. Accepting the award on behalf of Victoria will be Anna Babinets, director and editor of Slidstvo.Info.
As IPI marks its 75th anniversary this year, we have chosen to recognize seven individuals who have displayed tremendous courage and resilience in fighting for media freedom. In addition to Victoria, the World Press Freedom Hero award will also be given to Mzia Amaglobeli (Georgia), Martin Baron (United States), Mariam Abu Dagga (Palestine), Gustavo Gorriti (Peru), Jimmy Lai (Hong Kong), and Tesfalem Waldyes (Ethiopia).
“This year’s awardees are exemplary of the current threats facing journalists worldwide as authoritarianism gains ground, impunity prevails, and new challenges to freedom of expression emerge,” IPI Executive Director Scott Griffen said. “With this award, we honour their courage, commitment, and legacy – while renewing our urgent call to protect and defend media freedom as a pillar of free society.”
“Each of the recipients of this year’s World Press Freedom Hero award have faced acute dangers and threats merely for doing their job,” IMS Executive Director Jesper Højberg said. “Two of them – Victoria Roshchyna and Mariam Abu Dagga – paid with their lives. With immense courage and persistence, the awardees have uncovered corruption, war crimes, persecution of vulnerable groups and multiple other transgressions. We all owe them our deep gratitude for their fearless commitment to exposing what those in power seek to hide.”
Since 2000, IPI has recognized more than 75 journalists who have displayed tremendous courage and resilience in fighting for media freedom and the free flow of news with the World Press Freedom Hero award. Notable past awardees include imprisoned Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora, slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, and Mexican investigative journalist Carmen Aristegui. Since 2015, IPI has been proud to present the award in partnership with IMS.