She has been missing since August 3rd after she reached out to me Territories occupied by the Russians write a report: no news since then. Sound the alarm about the fate of the freelance Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna was the International Women’s Media Foundation on October 4th (Iwmf). “We are extremely concerned for their safety and ask for international attention to this case,” the organization defending women and non-binary journalists said. The IWMF fears that the reporter is being held in a Russian prison without anyone knowing what is being done to her.
An award-winning journalist, 26-year-old Roshchyna has been investigating crime and human rights for years, working for independent media outlets such as Ukrainska Pravda and Radio Free Europe. When the so-called “special military operation” began, he was working for the Hromadske newspaper: while his hometown, Zaporizhia, was under artillery fire and millions of people fled the country, the reporter continued to report on the war. The time had already come in 2022 captured by the Russians twice. The first time was in March, at the start of the invasion, when she was held prisoner for ten days Berdyansk. After her release, she returned to Zaporizhzhia to continue reporting on the war: the IWMF awarded her the prize again in 2022 for her reporting on the invasion and brutalities of the Russians Award for Courage in Journalism.
The move-in took place on July 27, 2023 Poland with the idea of reaching Russia and from there traveling towards the occupied territories of Ukraine. On August 3rd, she stated that she had passed several border controls without knowing where she was: contact with her had been broken off. His disappearance was reported to Ukrainian authorities on August 12. A request for clarification about Roshchyna’s fate was subsequently sent to the Office of the Russian Human Rights Commissioner. Tatyana Moskalkova. According to The Daily Beast, this is the case Svetlana GannushkinaRussian activist among the founders of the human rights organization monumentWinner of Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. “Unfortunately, I have not received a response yet,” Gannushkina added. Also because there are many inquiries and “the response can take more than a month”.
For the reporter’s father, Vladimir RoshchynThere is no doubt about what happened to your daughter. “The Ukrainian security service confirms to us that Victoria was captured by Russia,” he told The Daily Beast. “Officials tell us that many Ukrainian prisoners are ‘frozen’ in Russian prisons, you could be one of them.” But after her first detention, he had begged her not to return to the front and offered to pay her salary. “But she was steadfast and unstoppable. He could not stop telling his readers the news about this war in the occupied territories. Her father explained: “Journalism was the most important thing in her life, she was very dedicated to her profession.”
It is also impossible for the IWMF to consider Moscow’s participation again. “There systemic censorship Russia’s freedom of expression must not be neglected or uncontrolled,” the IWMF emphasized. “Free and independent journalism is essential to inform global audiences about the reality of Russia’s war against Ukraine.” The Organization for the Defense of Women and Non-Binary Journalists has therefore “asked our colleagues in the field of human rights and press freedom to join us Join the call for information about Roshchyna’s whereabouts and stand with journalists who continue to expose the truth. “Invasion of Russia.”
Also expresses concern for Roshchyna Sevgil Musaieva, director of Ukrainska Pravda, one of the newspapers with which the reporter worked as a freelancer. “She is a courageous journalist dedicated to reporting on the most controversial issues,” Musaieva said. “She’s not a spy, she’s a real journalist. He is not indifferent to the fate of the people remaining in the occupied territories. It’s important to her tell their stories“. As Roshchyna herself explained after the IWMF awarded her the prize: “I don’t have that I’ve never been afraid to tell the truth. People must know the truth and the guilty must be held accountable. I don’t consider it courage, but rather my own Professional duty“.