The remains of Viktoria Roshchyna, a 27-year-old Ukrainian journalist, were among 757 bodies, primarily those of , returned to Kyiv on February 14, 2025. Reports indicate the body displayed clear signs of torture following over a year of captivity by Russian forces.

Roshchyna, known for her determination as a journalist, was captured by Russian forces in August 2023 while reporting from behind the front lines in a region of Ukraine.

Although her body was returned alongside hundreds of others, reports suggest she was one of the few whose identity was not provided. Instead, a tag labeled “unidentified male” was attached to her shin.

According to a report by the Washington Post, Roshchyna’s head was shaved, burn marks were visible on her feet, a rib was broken, and there were possible indications of electric shock.

An investigation into her detention and death revealed that some of her organs, including her brain, eyes, and part of her trachea, were missing, possibly to conceal the extent of the torture she endured, according to some reports.

Yurii Bielousov, the head of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office war crimes department, , informed the Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda that there were indications she had been strangled.

Russia did not acknowledge detaining the journalist until April 2024, and in October 2024, a letter was sent to her father, Volodymyr Roshchyna, stating that she had .

Russian officials marked her body with the abbreviation “SPAS,” reportedly meaning “total failure of the arteries of the heart,” a designation possibly used by Russian authorities to fabricate an official cause of death.

“The body’s condition and mummification have made it impossible to determine the cause of death through forensic examination,” Bielousov told investigators.

Roshchyna’s parents have requested further testing.

Following her capture, Roshchyna was held at a police station in Energodar, near the , where investigators believe Russian forces established a “torture chamber” and subjected prisoners to severe beatings and electric shock.

It is believed Roshchyna was subjected to electric shock applied to her ears.

Roshchyna was then days later, where she was held until the end of 2023 and is also believed to have been subjected to significant torture.

By early 2024, she and other prisoners were reportedly transferred to a pre-trial detention center known as “No. 2” in Taganrog, a city in southwestern Russia near the Ukrainian border, described as being similar to a concentration camp.

The investigation described the site “as one of the most terrifying for ” and confirmed that lawyers and international organizations, including the Red Cross and United Nations observers, have been denied access to this detention center.

Roshchyna reportedly went on a hunger strike before being transferred to a hospital. She was partially revived and then returned to the detention center.

She was scheduled to be returned to Ukraine in September 2024, but the exchange was canceled for unknown reasons. Roshchyna was then reported to have died while in a convoy, but her destination remains unclear.

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