Suspilne: MPs address Zelenskyi with request to award Viktoria Roshchyna Hero of Ukraine title

MPs supported the address to award journalist Viktoria Roshchyna the Hero of Ukraine title. 246 MPs voted in favor, Suspilne reports.

Viktoria Roshchyna. Photo source: Facebook / Viktoria Roshchyna / Suspilne

Viktoria Roshchyna was a contributor to Ukrainian Radio, UA:Pershyi, hromadske, Ukrainska Pravda, Novosti Donbassa, Censor.net, and Radio Liberty. In 2022, she received the International Women's Media Foundation's award for Courage in Journalism.

Victoria Roshchyna's death

The investigation “Viktoriia Project”, which was released by Ukrainska Pravda in partnership with Forbidden Stories and multiple international media outlets on April 29, found that Russia had handed over to Ukraine the body of journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, which was listed in the documents as an “unidentified male” and had a single label of unclear meaning: SPAS. During the examination, it turned out that some internal organs were missing from the body. In particular, the brain, eyeballs, and part of the trachea.

On April 24, Yuriy Belousov, chair of the War Department at the Prosecutor General's Office, said that the forensic medical examination had failed to identify the causes of death of journalist Viktoria Roshchina, who died in Russian custody, due to the body's state. However, numerous signs of torture were found on Viktoria's body.

It was reported on April 24 that the body of Victoria Roshchyna had been brought back to Ukraine in late February this year. She was identified through DNA testing.

The death of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna in Russian detention was reported on October 10, 2024. Petro Yatsenko of the Coordinating Headquarters for POW Treatment confirmed reports of Viktoria Roshchyna's death.

Viktoria Roshchyna's name was on the swap lists, according to Defense Intelligence representative Andriy Yusov.

Russia earlier admitted detaining Viktoria Roshchyna, who went missing on August 3, 2023 in the temporarily occupied territory. Viktoria was held captive in Russia.

Slidstvo.Info discovered that Victoria Roshchyna was brutally tortured in Russian custody: there were stab wounds on her body, the journalist weighed under 30 kilograms, and Russian prison officers hid her from checks.

On May 8, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, submitted a parliamentary address to the Prosecutor General’s Office to bring the Russian citizens identified by the international investigation “Project Viktoria” to justice.