Ukrainian journalist dies in Russian detention, officials say

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(Reuters) – A Ukrainian journalist who wrote first-hand accounts of life under Russian occupation has died in Russian detention, officials said on Thursday.

Viktoria Roshchyna, who turned 28 this month, provided freelance reports for Ukrainian media outlets Ukrainska Pravda and Hromadske Radio and for U.S.-funded Radio Liberty.

Roshchyna wrote vivid accounts of life in Crimea after Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and areas of eastern Ukraine seized by Russian-funded separatists.

She also documented the nearly three-month defence of the port of Mariupol after Moscow launched its February 2022 full-scale invasion.

At least 17 journalists have been killed while reporting on the war, according to international organisations.

Roshchyna was initially held for 10 days in southern Ukraine after the invasion and had embarked on a new trip into occupied regions when she disappeared in August 2023. Russian officials acknowledged last May that she was being held.

Her death was announced on television by Petro Yatsenko, press officer for the body serving the interests of prisoners of war. The circumstances of her death were not yet known, he said.

A spokesperson for Ukraine’s HUR Intelligence Directorate, Andriy Yusov, told public broadcaster Suspilne that Roshchyna had been on a list of prisoners due to be exchanged. She had been due to be transferred to Moscow from detention in the southern city of Taganrog, he said.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Sandra Maler)