Mourning and cries for justice at the funeral of journalist Viktoria Rochtchyna, held in Kiev.
Journalist Viktoria Rochtchyna Remembered Amid Allegations of Torture and Death in Russian Prison
Viktoria Rochtchyna, a brave Ukrainian journalist who reported on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was killed under mysterious circumstances in 2025. She was just 27 years old.
An investigation conducted by Ukrainian authorities and other state services revealed that Viktoria was subjected to systematic torture, humiliation, threats, severe restrictions on access to medical care, drinking water, and food. The investigation provided evidence of these abhorrent practices in Russian detention centers, as experienced by Viktoria.
The investigation, published in April, looked back on Viktoria's last report focusing on the Russian prison system and mass acts of torture committed on detainees. The investigation spanned several months, covering Viktoria's arrest near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on August 3, 2023, to the handover of her body, a year and a half later.
The investigation, carried out by Forbidden Stories and partner media outlets, revealed that Viktoria spent at least nine months in the temporary detention center number 2 in Taganrog, Russia. The guards of this prison are accused of systematically committing acts of torture and starving Ukrainian detainees, both civilians and military.
Aleksandr Shtoda, the director of the Taganrog prison, was indicted by Ukrainian authorities following the investigation. The detention centers where Viktoria was held were spread between the occupied territories and Russia, according to the investigation.
Viktoria was working on the Russian prison system and the mass acts of torture committed on detainees when she was arrested. Public reports indicate she was tortured and killed in a Russian prison, though specific details on her death were not included in the available summary.
At her funeral on August 8, 2025, in Kiev, Ukraine, relatives and former colleagues laid bouquets of flowers on her coffin. A portrait of Viktoria, showing her with an intense gaze and her arms crossed, was present at the ceremony. The ceremony at the Monastery of Saint Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral was followed by a gathering on Maidan Square and her burial in a cemetery in the capital.
The investigation into Viktoria's death and the conditions in Russian prisons continues, and the international community continues to call for justice for her and other victims of Russian brutality.
The ongoing investigation into Viktoria Rochtchyna's death, centered around allegations of her torture and death in a Russian prison, also covers the larger scale of human rights abuses in Russian detention centers, falling under the categories of 'war-and-conflicts', 'politics', 'general-news', and 'crime-and-justice'. The Russian prison system, including its practices of systematic torture and starvation of detainees, is becoming a recurring topic in these investigations.
