Ukraine: Ukrainian Journalist Victoria Roshchyna Goes Missing on Assignment in Russian Occupied Territories
Family fears Russian forces are holding her
Location: Ukraine
Date: August 3, 2023*Updated on October 5, 2023.
Award-winning Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna, known for her reporting on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has gone missing, raising concerns for her safety. The 26-year-old reporter was last heard from on August 3 while in Russian-occupied territory. Her family believes she is held captive by Russian forces. The Coalition For Women In Journalism is deeply concerned for her welfare. We demand that Russian authorities and armed forces immediately reveal her location and release her.
“She is a brave journalist. She commits to report the most controversial topics, which require courage,” Sevgil Musaieva, the editor-in-chief of Ukrainska Pravda, says of reporter Victoria Roshchyna. “She is not indifferent to the fate of people who remained in the occupied territories. It is important for her to tell their stories.”
On October 4, 2023, the family of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roschchyna revealed they had not heard from their daughter since August 3, 2023.
The journalist was on assignment to cover the conflict from the ground when she went missing.
She left her home in Ukraine to travel to Poland on July 27 to enter the occupied territories in eastern Ukraine via Russia.
In an interview with the Daily Beast, her father says the last time they spoke, Roschchyna had passed the Russian border into occupied eastern Ukraine but did not reveal her exact location.
Her colleagues have been trying to locate her whereabouts for months with no success.
The Ukrainian authorities were informed of Roshchyna's disappearance on August 12. Subsequently, her family filed an official missing person's case with several governmental agencies, including the Security Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporary Occupied Territories of Ukraine, and the Ombudsman. According to Ukrainian officials, Roshchyna's capture by Russia is a possibility, as numerous Ukrainian detainees are held in Russian jails.
Renowned Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina, co-founder of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Memorial human rights organization, has contacted Russia's Commissioner for Human Rights for information about Roshchyna's whereabouts. However, Gannushkina has not received a response, citing a backlog of requests as a potential cause for the delay.
This is not the first time Roshchyna has faced adversity in her pursuit of truth. Roshchnya was captured twice before by Russian forces while reporting the war. On March 11, 2022, she was detained, presumably by the Russian FSB, while reporting on life in occupied Enerhodar. The Russian occupiers released Roshchyna after six days. Earlier that same month, the Russian military detained her in the village of Vasilivka, but she managed to escape unharmed.
Roshchyna's dedication to journalism was unparalleled, as her family attests.
“To my daughter, journalism was the most important thing in her life. She was very devoted to her profession,” her father told the Daily Beast. Despite their pleas to avoid the frontlines, she remained steadfast in her commitment to cover the war in the occupied territories.
“To my daughter, journalism was the most important thing in her life. She was very devoted to her profession”
Roshchyna's commitment to journalism earned her a nomination for IWMF’s Courage in Journalism Awards in November 2022.
Since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian armed forces have mercilessly targeted journalists covering the conflict on the ground. Women journalists have been killed and injured in missile attacks, and journalists Iryna Levchenko and Lutfiye Zudiyeva have been wrongfully detained by Russian forces in occupied Ukraine. Crimean journalist Iryna Danylovych, who has been held behind bars since the spring of 2022, was denied medical care in prison by Russian forces, resulting in hearing loss. She has been illegally moved from Ukraine to correctional colony No. 7 in Zelenokumsk, Russia.
In a joint effort, CFWIJ and 23 other press freedom organizations have called for international organizations to take action against Russia and hold it accountable for its war crimes against journalists. The urgency to protect press freedom and ensure the safety of women journalists cannot be overstated. Read our full statement.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is extremely worried about the well-being and safety of Victoria Roshchyna. We urge Tatyana Moskalkova, Russia's Commissioner for Human Rights, to respond to requests to urgently investigate Roshchyna’s disappearance and provide her family and loved ones with information. Russian armed forces in occupied territories in Ukraine must disclose their knowledge about her location and release her immediately if she is being detained.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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