MPs appeal to Zelensky with request to award title of Hero of Ukraine to journalist Roshchyna

Ukrainian lawmakers on May 14 backed an appeal to award journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who was killed in Russian captivity, the title of Hero of Ukraine, Suspilne reported.

A total of 246 MPs voted in favor of awarding Roshchyna the title. The appeal now has to be signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Roshchyna, 27, disappeared in August 2023 while reporting from Ukraine’s Russian-occupied territories. Moscow admitted she was in Russian detention the following year.

Her body was returned to Ukraine in late February and falsely labeled as that of an “unidentified man.” A forensic examination was later able to identify the body as Roshchyna’s through DNA testing.

Ukrainian officials confirmed Roshchyna’s death on Oct. 10, 2024, but said that the circumstances were still under investigation. Russia claims Roshchyna died on Sept. 19, 2024.

A recent large-scale media investigation revealed that Roshchyna’s body had been returned with missing organs, possibly an attempt to obscure signs of suffocation or strangulation.  

The Media Initiative for Human Rights, a Ukrainian NGO, reported that Roshchyna had been held in at least two notorious Russian prisons: Penal Colony 77 in Berdiansk in occupied Ukraine and Detention Center 2 in Russia’s Taganrog.

Both facilities are known for the use of torture against prisoners.

Roshchyna was also detained in March 2022 for 10 days by Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers while leaving Berdiansk in the direction of Mariupol. As a condition of her release, she was forced to record a video saying Russian forces had saved her life.

What we know about Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna who died in Russian captivity

Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, 27, was about to be released from Russian captivity and returned home, when the news of her death broke out on Oct. 10, shocking Ukraine and the world. Roshchyna disappeared in August 2023 while reporting in Russian-occupied territory. More than half a year later, Russia’s Defense Ministry finally confirmed she was in captivity. Since then, many journalists, activists, and organizations have advocated for her release. But hopes to see Roshchyna bac

The Kyiv IndependentDaria Shulzhenko