War was her beat: Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, or Vika for short, put herself in danger to tell the world about what was happening to people in the occupied areas of her country. The 27-year-old paid for her courage with her life. Two years ago, Roshchyna was taken prisoner by the Russians and was never released.

She spent 15 months in prison in the southern Russian city of Taganrog. The journalist died during her transfer to Moscow last autumn. Now she finally found her final resting place in Kyiv: on Friday, Viktoriia Roshchyna was buried in the famous Baikove Cemetery in the Ukrainian capital.

The death of the Ukrainian journalist was announced on October 10, 2024. Roshchyna, who disappeared during a trip to the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, had waited in vain for her release. Andriy Yussov of the Ukrainian military intelligence service told the Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne that Roshchyna was supposed to be part of a prisoner exchange. However, this never materialized during her lifetime.

Russia did not hand over the journalist's body to Ukraine until February 14, together with the bodies of 756 fallen soldiers. Roshchyna was the last one, numbered 757 and marked "unidentified male." According to the Ukrainian web portal Graty, the journalist's father was informed in a letter from the Russian Ministry of Defense that his daughter had died on September 19, 2024.

Investigative journalists from the international Viktoriia Project investigated the case. The project was initiated by the journalist network Forbidden Stories with the participation of leading media outlets worldwide, including the........

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