Two years after Ukrainian journalist and IPI-IMS World Press Freedom Hero Victoria Roshchyna died in a Russian prison, the International Press Institute (IPI) repeats its call for justice and accountability for her death. IPI also reiterates its demand for the immediate release of all Ukrainian journalists imprisoned by Russia.
Roshchyna, a freelance journalist, died on September 19, 2024, after enduring more than a year in Russian captivity. She was 27 years old. After Roshchyna’s remains were repatriated to Ukraine in February 2025, forensic examiners discovered her body had been mutilated, with some internal organs removed, in what may have been an attempt to conceal evidence of torture.
While 16 journalists have been killed while reporting from Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion began on February 24, 2022, Roshchyna was the first — and remains the only — journalist to have died in Russian custody during the war.
Roshchyna was captured by Russian forces and vanished into the secret prison system in August 2023 after she travelled to Russian-occupied Zaporizhia in Ukraine’s southeast on a reporting trip to investigate Russian war crimes.
Nearly a year after her disappearance, Russian authorities confirmed they were holding her on undisclosed charges. They never said where they had arrested her or where they were holding her.
She is believed to have died after Russian authorities transferred her to a detention facility known as SIZO No. 3 in the Russian city of Kizel, possibly while en route to Moscow in preparation for an upcoming prisoner exchange.
Russian authorities have not cooperated with a Ukrainian criminal investigation into her death. They have refused to explain how she died or to comment on allegations that she was tortured.
In October 2025, IPI named Roshchyna a 2025 World Press Freedom Hero in recognition of her courageous investigative work on the Russian occupation of Ukraine. She is also a posthumous recipient of Ukraine’s Order of Freedom award.
“Victoria Roshchyna paid the ultimate price for her dedication to ensuring the stories of her fellow citizens living under occupation were heard by the world,” IPI Executive Director Scott Griffen said. “Her death shed light on the brutal treatment Ukrainian journalists can face at the hands of Russian authorities. IPI will keep demanding justice for Victoria, and we call on the international community to press for the release of every journalist Russia is holding.”
As of August 2026, 27 Ukrainian journalists remain behind bars in Russia, many on politically motivated charges of “terrorism” and “espionage.” Russian authorities detained about half of them after the full-scale invasion began. In several cases they have filed no public charges and refuse to acknowledge the imprisonments, effectively holding the journalists incommunicado.
On September 3, Iryna Levchenko, a journalist from Melitopol, was sentenced to 15 years in a penal colony on politically motivated charges of “espionage” connected with her reporting work. Russian authorities first arrested her in May 2023, more than three years earlier. In prison, she has been tortured with electric shocks.
In December 2025, a Russian court refused to review the three-year prison sentence handed to Hennadiy Osmak, a journalist from Ukraine’s occupied Kherson region, on spurious charges. After Russian forces occupied Kherson, Osmak reportedly refused their demand that he produce propaganda.
Anastasia Hlukhovska, a journalist from Melitopol, was detained by Russian authorities in August 2023 alongside six of her colleagues. She is believed to be held in the same facility where Roshchyna died, and has been tortured with electric shocks.
Iryna Danylovych, who contributed to independent media as a citizen journalist, was arrested by the FSB in Crimea after the full-scale invasion began. A court later convicted her of possessing explosives and sentenced her to seven years in prison. In 2023, it was reported she was transferred to a penal colony in Russia.
Danylovych’s health has rapidly deteriorated behind bars due to psychological torture and prison authorities’ refusal to provide her with adequate medical care. According to sources, she has completely lost hearing in her left ear and suffers severe headaches.
While Russia and Ukraine regularly conduct exchanges of prisoners of war, releases of civilians from Russian custody are much less frequent. Four Ukrainian journalists returned home in June, July, and August 2025. Russia included no journalists in its most recent release of 120 Ukrainian civilians in May 2026.