Ukrainian Journalist 'Abducted By Russian Security Forces', Her Employers Claim

Employers at a broadcaster in Ukraine have claimed one of their journalists has been kidnapped by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) after reporting about the invasion of the country.

Broadcaster Hromadske shared its concerns about the whereabouts of journalist Victoria Roschina in a statement shared on social media, where it explained she has not been in contact since March 12.

Roschina has been involved in covering news about Russia's invasion of Ukraine since it began on 24 February, and earlier this month described how she escaped unhurt after a vehicle she had been travelling in was attacked by Russian forces in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.

Our journalist Victoria Roshchyna is held captive by the Russian occupiers. She was reporting from hotspots in Eastern and Southern Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war. On March 12, we couldn't contact Victoria 1/3 pic.twitter.com/4728hwDs72

— Hromadske Int. (@Hromadske) March 18, 2022

Her laptop and camera had been stolen, and in the wake of the incident Roschina said she would 'never forgive Russia'.

Along with a picture of Roschina, Hromadske said she 'filmed videos and wrote articles from hot spots in eastern and southern Ukraine all days of the Russian-Ukrainian war' and that it learned from witnesses that she was in 'temporarily occupied Berdiansk' on the day the employers attempted to contact her.

In the statement, the broadcaster continued: "On March 16, we learned that on the eve (probably March 15) Victoria Roschina was detained by the Russian FSB. Now nothing is known about her whereabouts. We made all efforts to release the journalist in a public way. But it turned out to be a failure."

Hromadske has called on the international community 'to join information and actions to the release of journalist Hromadske Victoria Roschina', with the post having been shared thousands of times online. In response to the allegations of Roschina's whereabouts, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) called for her immediate release.

As we learned from witnesses, at that time the journalist was in the temporarily occupied Berdiansk. On March 16, we learned that the day before (probably March 15), Victoria Roshchyna was detained by the Russian FSB. Currently, we do not know where she is 2/3

— Hromadske Int. (@Hromadske) March 18, 2022

The broadcaster has not shared any evidence it has for claiming Roschina was being held captive by the FSB.

The security service was created in 1994 as Russia's principal security agency and is the main successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB. It is responsible for counterintelligence, antiterrorism and surveillance of the military.

A colleague of Roschina’s, Yulia Spasokukotska, described the journalist as a 'fearless girl' in a post on her Facebook page cited by The Independent, adding: "she’s always at the centre of events, as she belongs to journalists. May everything be fine with her!"

Roschina is not the only Ukrainian journalist to go missing in the wake of the war, as ESJ has reported that journalist Oleg Baturin has also been missing after last being seen in Kakhovka, a city in the Kherson region which has been occupied by Russian forces.

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