The body of journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who had been detained by Russia, was brought back to Ukraine, deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Leonid Tymchenko, reported in an interview with Censor.NET.

"Her body was brought back as part of the recent repatriation effort in late February of this year. She was identified through DNA testing," he said.

MP, Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, reported that the return of Viktoria's body was kept secret because the Russians often swap bodies and there was no certainty that it was her.

"Given the torture and the condition that the body was in, Roshchyna’s family requested not one, but several DNA tests. As far as I know, the tests were conducted not only in Ukraine, but also abroad to make sure that it was definitely Vika.

"So, now, citing the position of Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs, we can state: the journalist’s body is home. The Russians killed a media professional aged 27 who had been unlawfully detained and tortured for a long time,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

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 Viktoria 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.

Viktoria Roshchyna went missing on August 3, 2023, while traveling to the Russian-occupied territories. On July 27, 2023, Roshchyna left Ukraine for Poland and was supposed to reach the occupied territories in the East of Ukraine (via Russia) in three days.

Her family last spoke to her on August 3; the journalist said that she had been through several days of border checks, but did not disclose her whereabouts.

Viktoria had been detained previously. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, FSB officers and Russian troops detained Viktoria Roshchyna in occupied Berdiansk on March 15, 2022. She was reporting on military operations in the East and South of Ukraine. On March 21, 2022, the Russian forces released Viktoria Roshchyna.