Russia's refusal to return the body of a Ukrainian journalist is slowing the investigation into the death

The investigation into Viktoria Roshchyna's death in Russian custody is complicated by Moscow's refusal to return the body of the 27-year-old Ukrainian journalist.

Ukraine announced earlier this month that Roshchyna died in Russian custody on September 19. She should have been returned as part of a prisoner release.

Petro Yatsenko of the Ukrainian Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said Roshchyna's body was scheduled to be repatriated on October 18, according to a letter Roshchyna's father received from the Russian Defense Ministry. It remains unclear why her body was not included in the exchange.

Roshchyna's death is “something that happened to a Ukrainian journalist in Russia at the hands of the Russian authorities.” The key to understanding what is happening lies in Russia's hands. And there is obviously very little hope that Russia would want to reveal even a little bit of the truth,” Karol Luczka told VOA.

Luczka, who is in charge of Eastern Europe at the International Press Institute in Vienna, said it was “inexplicable and simply appalling” that Russian authorities had not released the body.

Roshchyna disappeared in August 2023 during a reporting trip to a Russian-occupied part of Ukraine. Moscow only acknowledged she was detained about eight months after her disappearance.

Andriy Yusov of Ukrainian military intelligence confirmed earlier this month that Roshchyna was slated for the release of its prisoners. According to some reports, Roshchyna died while being transferred to Moscow in preparation for her return home from an internment camp in Taganrog, a Russian city near the Ukrainian border.

The Russian Embassy in Washington, the State Department and the Defense Department did not respond to VOA's emails seeking comment for this story.

As a freelance journalist, Roshchyna has written articles for Ukrainian media such as Ukrainska Pravda. She also freelanced for the Ukrainian service of VOA's sister station Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Colleagues remembered her as a journalist who worked to report war crimes in Russia's war against Ukraine, including in dangerous regions.

In 2022, Roshchyna was briefly detained by Russian forces while reporting in Berdyansk in occupied southeastern Ukraine.

This experience did not deter her from continuing to report in Russian-occupied territories.

When Moscow confirmed that Roshchyna was in Russian custody, it came as a relief to her supporters, including Elisa Lees Munoz. The executive director of the International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) said the news confirmed that Roshchyna was at least still alive and that there was hope for her release.

“Unfortunately, that hope faded when we learned of her death,” Munoz told VOA.

The IWMF awarded Roshchyna the 2022 Courage Award. When the IWMF invited Roshchyna to the United States to accept the award in person, Roshchyna declined, saying she needed to remain in Ukraine to continue reporting, Munoz said.

Press freedom groups are calling on Moscow to make public the circumstances of Roshchyna's death.

According to Arnaud Froger, head of investigations for Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in Paris, it will be difficult to find out how Roshchyna died without her body.

“Without the body, we can only make assumptions,” Froger told VOA. He added that he would not trust Russian medical records or autopsy reports without an independent examination of the body.

RSF is investigating Roshchyna's death to find out what happened and who was involved. Since traveling to Russia is not possible for security reasons, RSF must urge Moscow to release Roshchyna's body and search for witnesses, Froger said.

United Nations experts are calling for Roshchyna to be held accountable in the Roshchyna case and for her body to be released.

Munoz says she doesn't have high hopes for long-term accountability in the Roshchyna case.

Without an autopsy, Munoz said it will be difficult to determine whether Roshchyna was killed or whether she died as a result of poor prison conditions.

“Regardless of whether she died of so-called 'natural causes,' it was obviously a result of her captivity,” Munoz said. “I would say she was killed.”