Russia: 10 Months After Vanishing in Occupied Ukraine, Women Press Freedom Confirms Russia is Keeping Victoria Roshchyna Captive
Women Press Freedom is relieved to report the award-winning journalist is safe but is deeply concerned for her safety. We demand her immediate release.
Location: Russia
Date: May 27, 2024
Victoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist who went missing in August 2023, is being held by Russia’s Ministry of Defence, Women Press Freedom can confirm. We demand immediate information from Russian authorities on her well-being and the reasons for her detention. Her family, loved ones, and legal representatives must be allowed to contact her. Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has committed countless atrocities, including reports of people being tortured in detention centers. We demand that Roshchyna be visited to ensure she is healthy and safe. Roshchyna’s work reporting on the conflict made her a target, and her continued detention is a grave injustice. Detaining journalists for doing their job is unacceptable, and Roshchyna must be immediately and unconditionally freed so she can return home safely. Women Press Freedom also calls for the release of all other journalists reporting on the conflict who are being unlawfully held by Russia. We urge the international community, human rights organizations, and governments worldwide to exert pressure on Russia to secure their release.
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On May 27, 2024, after ten months with no information, Russia acknowledged that it is holding the prominent Ukrainian journalist, Victoria Roshchyna, captive. The revelation came through a letter from the Russian Ministry of Defense to Roshchyna’s father.
Women Press Freedom raised the alarm about the disappearance of Roshchyna, a 26-year-old award-winning journalist known for her reporting on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, on August 3, 2023. The reporter went missing while reporting from occupied territory in eastern Ukraine about her disappearance on several occasions.
According to the letter from Russian military police dated April 17, 2024, Victoria Roshchyna is currently detained within the territory of the Russian Federation. However, despite efforts by her family and relevant authorities, access to her remains restricted. Her father sought assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross, which confirmed her captivity but has not been able to secure access to her.
Although Russian authorities have acknowledged her detention, crucial questions remain unanswered. There is no indication of the charges against her or the legal basis for her detention. The Mariupol occupation prosecutor's office reported to her family that no case had been opened against her. Further requests to the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, the investigative committee, and the ombudsman have yielded no substantial information.
Since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian forces have kidnapped several journalists including Iryna Levchenko and Anastasia Glukhovska. The whereabouts of these journalists remain unknown, and Women Press Freedom is deeply concerned for their safety and well-being.
Women Press Freedom has documented the deaths of eight women journalists in Ukraine since February 2022, all killed in Russian attacks. Numerous frontline journalists have been injured, with six women journalists wounded in Russian attacks in 2024 alone. Journalists in occupied Crimea have also faced intimidation, detention, and imprisonment by Russian authorities.
Women Press Freedom vehemently demands the immediate and unconditional release of Victoria Roshchyna and other journalists held illegally by Russia. She must be allowed to return safely to her family. We call upon the international community and governments worldwide to exert pressure on Russia for their release and to uphold the rights and safety of journalists.
WPF is deeply saddened by the death of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roschyna, who died under unclear circumstances while being transferred to a Moscow prison. The circumstances of her death remain uncertain, but one fact is clear: the Kremlin bears responsibility.
WPF strongly condemns the criminal charges brought against Ukrainian journalists Diana Butsko, Olesya Borovik, and CNN’s Nick Peyton Walsh by Russian federal security services for their coverage of Ukrainian military incursion into the Kursk region.
WPF is alarmed that the well-known journalist is facing issues traveling due to the Kremlin’s concerted and unjust transnational repression tactics
WPF strongly condemns Moscow's legal threats against Italian journalists Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini, who work for the Italian public broadcaster RAI. The journalists stand accused of "illegal border-crossing" after reporting on Ukraine’s counter-invasion in Russia's Kursk region.
WPF is delighted that Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva has been released from prison in Russia and is finally, after ten grueling months, able to return home to family in Prague.
WPF condemns the sentencing of Ukrainian TV presenter Natalia Moseychuk to five years in prison by a Moscow court, in yet another transnational repression attack on press freedom.
WPF condemns the Kremlin’s relentless legal harassment of exiled journalists under “foreign agent” law.
Elizaveta Surnacheva is now facing a second prosecution for failing to comply with the reporting requirements imposed on those labeled as “foreign agents.”
Olga Komleva, a reporter and activist from Ufa, is facing mounting legal pressures and accusations.
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Exiled journalist Lyudmila Savitskaya has been subjected to continuous legal and financial harassment by the Russian regime, WPF is worryingly documenting.
War photographers Olga Kovalova and Vladyslav Krasnoshchok were injured by Russian shelling while covering the conflict in Toretsk, Donetsk.
Women Press Freedom condemns the continued persecution of journalist who has faced years of harassment.
WPF strongly condemns the ongoing persecution of journalists by the Russian government, which continues to label independent news outlets as “undesirable.”
WPF strongly denounces this transnational repression and calls on the international community to stand in solidarity with Taratuta and other exiled journalists who remain vulnerable to state-sanctioned reprisals from Russia for continuing to report.
Russian-US journalist and author Masha Gessen was convicted in absentia by a Moscow court on charges of spreading false information about the military.
The Kremlin has initiated yet another deplorable attack on press freedom by opening an administrative case against exiled journalist Yulia Latynina.
The Interior Ministry issues arrest warrants for at least 13 women and non-binary journalists.
Court arrests Lazareva in absentia following search warrant by Ministry of Internal Affairs. The renowned journalist is unjustly accused of justifying terrorism.
The deepfake targeting France 24 and journalist Catalina Marchant de Abreu is a serious threat to press freedom and public trust.
WPF vehemently condemns the recent decision by a St. Petersburg court to label the journalist couple Lydia Nevzorova and Aleksandr Nevzorov as an “extremist union.”
WPF denounces additional fines slapped on Baranova for “failure to comply with foreign agent law”
Russian military forces detained Zhanna Kyseliova, editor of the Kakhovska Zoria newspaper, on June 27, 2024, in Kakhovka, Kherson, following a raid on her apartment.
WPF denounces Russia’s decision to revoke the accreditation of Carola Schneider, a seasoned Moscow correspondent for Austria’s ORF.
WPF unequivocally condemns the Kremlin’s persistent and cynical use of transnational repression to silence dissenting voices, both domestically and abroad.
Arrested in absentia, journalist Ekaterina Fomina faces charges for disseminating "fakes" about the Russian army — a clear retaliation against her investigative reporting, which exposed a Russian soldier's confession to murder in Ukraine.
WPF condemns in the strongest terms the Russian Foreign Ministry's decision to revoke the accreditation of Austrian journalist Maria Knips-Witting and order her expulsion from the country.
WPF condemns in the strongest terms the recent actions taken by Rosfinmonitorin in designating journalists Maria Menshikova and Anna Loiko as “terrorists and extremists.”
Victoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist who went missing in August 2023, is being held by Russia’s Ministry of Defence, WPF can confirm.
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