Family, friends, and colleagues held a farewellceremonyin Kyiv on August 8 for Ukrainian journalistViktoria Roshchyna,who went missing in Russian-occupied territories before being confirmed dead while in Russian captivity, where she appeared to have been tortured.
Roshchyna, a 27-year-old freelance journalist who had previously worked with RFE/RL and other prominent Ukrainian media outlets, went missing in early August 2023. A year later, she called her family from Russian custody, the only time they heard from their daughter after her disappearance.
It wasn't until October 2024 that her death was confirmed by Petro Yatsenko, a representative of Ukraine's Coordination Staff for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, following an investigation into her disappearance.
"Viktoria, as a person, as a journalist, as a colleague, was someone to whom it was important to do what no one else could or even wanted to do," Taras Ilkiv, chief digital editor for RFE/RL's Ukrainian bureau, said during the ceremony in Kyiv.
