The body of journalist Viktoria Roshchina was handed over without some organs - mass media

This was reported in an article byUkrayinska Pravdaon 29 April, which was prepared as part of an international investigation Viktoriia Project initiated by Forbidden Stories, an organisation that continues the work of journalists killed or persecuted for their professional activities.

According to the head of the War Department of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Yuriy Belousov, Roschyna's body showed signs of beatings, abrasions, haemorrhages and a broken rib. There were also signs of possible use of electricity.

The investigation confirmed that the body came from Russia already after the autopsy. The body was also missing important internal organs, including the brain, eyeballs and part of the trachea. An international pathologist involved in the investigation suggests that this may have been done to cover up the death by strangulation.

Thirteen international media outlets have joined the journalistic investigation, including The Guardian, Washington Post, Le Monde, Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, ZDF, France 24, Ukrainska Pravda and others.

During the exchange of bodies on 14 February 2025, Ukraine received the remains of 757 dead defenders. Among them was a body numbered 757 with the notes "unidentified male" and "SPAS" (total lesion of the arteries of the heart). Experts later determined that it was the body of a woman. DNA analysis confirmed a 99% match with the DNA of Victoria Roschina.

Earlier, the Office of the Prosecutor General reported that due to the mummified state of the body it was not possible to establish the exact cause of death.

Roshchina was detained by the Russian military in Berdyansk in March 2022, when she was preparing materials about life in the occupied territories. She was then released after recording a video in which she claimed to have no claims against the Russian army. However, in July 2023, she again went to the temporarily occupied territories and disappeared on 3 August. Last known, she travelled through Poland to get to eastern Ukraine via Russia. Later, the SBU informed her relatives that Viktoriya had been captured.

The journalist co-operated with a number of Ukrainian and international publications: Radio Liberty, hromadske, Ukrayinska Pravda, UA:First, Censor.net and others.