Viktoriia Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist who died in Russian captivity last year aged 27, has been buried in Kyiv. Her funeral was attended by relatives, colleagues, diplomats, MPs, and members of the public, who paid tribute to her courage and work.
Roshchyna was reporting on Russia's policy of extrajudicial detention and torture in occupied Ukraine before she herself was taken captive. She died after more than a year in captivity, and her body was returned earlier this year with some internal organs missing.
Colleagues described her as a passionate and driven journalist who refused to be deterred from covering life under Russian occupation. Sevgil Musayeva, editor in chief of Ukrainska Pravda, called her 'the bravest journalist I have ever met'.
Roshchyna was first captured briefly in spring 2022 but continued to travel to occupied areas. She was taken captive again in August 2023 and held without contact. Russian authorities only admitted her detention in May 2024.
An investigation by the Viktoriia Project found that her body showed signs of strangulation, with a broken hyoid bone, and that her brain, eyes, and larynx had been removed. She was posthumously awarded the Order of Freedom by President Zelenskyy.
