Mystery surrounds death of Ukrainian journalist in Russia’s ‘hell on earth’ prison

It has been nearly 50 days since a 27-year-old Ukrainian journalist died while imprisoned at a Russian detention facility dubbed “hell on Earth” – but her family and friends are still waiting for the Kremlin to release her body so they can give her a proper funeral.

Authorities in Russia have not explained why they are yet to return the body of award-winning journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who went missing in August last year, with Ukrainian officials and her ex-colleagues telling The Independent they are concerned the delay could help in the cover-up of the cause of her death.

Russia has previously been accused of silencing critics such as opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison in the Arctic Circle on 16 February this year. The Russian government has repeatedly denied killing political opponents and attributed Navalny’s death to “disease”, but his family and a number of Western governments have said Russia most likely poisoned him.

Roshchyna, described by her former colleagues as an unstoppable force, chased stories from the frontline about ordinary people caught in the middle of the Russian invasion. Her father was notified of her death by the Russian authorities in a letter on 19 September.

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Ukraine confirmed her death on 10 October, stating she died while being transported from a detention facility in southern Russia’s Taganrog to Moscow. The Taganrog facility is described as a “hell on Earth” for captive Ukrainians, with beatings routinely reported by former prisoners, says Tetiana Katrychenko, executive director at the Media Initiative for Human Rights, a Ukrainian rights group tracking Roshchyna’s case.

The journalist was first reported to have disappeared while reporting from Russia-occupied Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region in August last year. Her father said she called him for the last time on 3 August but they lost contact with her shortly after.

“From our sources, we know that she remained in [the] Zaporizhzhia region and was free at least until 20 August. Around 20-22 August, she met with a man who was asked to help her move around the area,” Ms Katrychenko said.

Roshchyna’s father finally received a letter from Russian officials in April this year, dated 17 April and received on 22 April, saying she was alive and in their detention.

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“Victoria is a professional journalist, and her presence in the occupied territory angered Russia. No Ukrainian journalist has worked in the occupied territories; none have gone into occupation,” said Ms Katrychenko.

Nearly 50 days after Roshchyna’s death, Vladimir Putin’s officials have not disclosed what happened to Roshchyna, who would have turned 28 last month. Ukrainian authorities suspect Russia might be delaying the return of her body “until it would be very difficult to investigate the cause of her death”.

“At the moment we are negotiating with Russian officials, but our experience of tedious prisoner of war exchanges shows us that Russia is never in a hurry to return the bodies of those killed in the Ukraine war,” says Petro Yatsenko, spokesperson for the Ukrainian coordination centre for the treatment of prisoners of war. “They will postpone the repatriation of Victoria’s body for as long as possible.

“We are still waiting for the handover of the bodies of prisoners of war who Russia claims died during the Ilyushin-76 military plane crash earlier this year in January,” he told The Independent. In death Roshchyna poses no threat to Russia and yet Moscow is still refusing to repatriate her body, he added.

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Mr Yatsenko said that in the absence of any formal statement by Russia detailing the reason, it is understood that something happened to the young journalist while she was being transferred from one pre-detention facility to another in Russia. “Taganrog facility is well known for its horrible torture and inhumane behaviour towards the Ukrainian prisoners of war,” he said.

“She was very brave, determined and focused in her work but she was very skinny. In the Russian places of detention, there is no regret, no pity for people… especially Ukrainians. It is very hard to survive that colony,” the Ukrainian official said.

Roshchyna’s family and her lawyer have not received any document confirming her death and were still trying to understand what happened to her, Ms Katrychenko, the human rights organisation official studying the conditions inside the Russian detention centres, said.

Soldiers released from this detention facility have described the brutal conditions inside. “One female soldier, who was there for only a few months, said Taganrog is synonymous with fear,” Ms Katrychenko said. She said Roshchyna was held there like a “war criminal”.

“She was hidden there without any notice to her family or the Ukrainian government, and no charges were brought against her,” she said, adding that Roshchyna was held by Russia only because she opposed the Russian occupation. Detention of civilians is a war crime and should be addressed by the International Criminal Court, she said.

Senior Ukrainian media officials who worked with Roshchyna said she was a “courageous journalist” who chased stories despite officials warning her of the risks.

“She always wanted to go to the frontline to see those people who were trapped in very difficult, and dire situations, including those from the military. She was always very concerned about the civilian population and about like normal people who were in the middle of very harsh events imposed by Russia,” said her former colleague Kyrylo Loukerenko, editor-in-chief of Hromadske Radio.

She counted those in occupied Ukraine as Ukrainian citizens who were separated from their own people by tragic events, he told The Independent.

“Whatever happened to her, we will learn about it in some time hopefully from the right people. We should learn about it, but not from the Russian officials,” Loukerenko said.