Freelance author of Ukrainska Pravda Viktoria Roshchina, whose death was recently reported, was held by the occupiers in pretrial detention center No. 2 in Taganrog, Rostov Oblast, Russian Federation.
This was reported by the executive director of the public organization Media Initiative for Human Rights Tatiana Katrichenko.
Former prisoners reported that this detention center is known for its brutal torture.
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For her part, the human rights activist says that Viktoria Roshchina was held in at least two prisons: correctional colony No. 77 in Berdyansk and pretrial detention center No. 2 in Taganrog.
– Since the first months of the full-scale invasion, the Russians have been using both places to hold both Ukrainian military personnel and civilians, in particular women, – Katrichenko informs.
In addition, she noted that Taganrog and Berdyansk are known as some of the most brutal places for holding Ukrainians in the Russian Federation. In particular, the pretrial detention center in Taganrog is called hell on earth.
– In particular, Azovites from Azovstal are held in Taganrog. Those released tell of terrible torture. There, everyone they want to make criminals out of confesses to crimes — incriminates themselves. Then they are transferred to Rostov and tried, she adds.
Journalist Roshchina held in pretrial detention center in Taganrog
The human rights activist notes that “Viktoria was held in Taganrog, at least from May to September 2024. In a solitary confinement cell. On the eve of the exchange on September 13, 2024, Roshchina and at least one other woman from Melitopol were taken out of Taganrog, but where exactly is unknown”.
The IHR reported that, according to the released prisoners of war, the guards of the detention center in Taganrog use a rubber truncheon, a wooden hammer, and electric shockers for torture. The prisoners are beaten during reception, daily searches, and interrogations. During interrogations, the prisoners are forced to confess to crimes they did not commit.
– There was a man in the cell with me. He was taken for interrogations every day. The Abkhazians said they would beat him until he signed a confession. They drowned him in water, threw a rag on his face, and poured water on him. As a result, he signed everything, – says one of the released soldiers, whose name the IHR is not disclosing for security reasons.
Another former prisoner recalls hearing screams, because someone was always being beaten somewhere. According to him, these sounds could be heard for 15-20 minutes, and then the person could not stand, he was thrown into the cell almost unconscious.
Recall that Roshchina was first detained by the FSB of the Russian Federation in March 2022, when she was preparing materials on military actions in Zaporozhye and the Donetsk region. She was held for ten days, but was subsequently released.
In August 2023, Victoria Roshchina disappeared in the temporarily occupied territories. It was only in May 2024 that the Russian Federation confirmed for the first time that the journalist was in captivity.
On October 10, Petro Yatsenko, a representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War in Ukraine, announced that the death of journalist Victoria Roshchina in Russian captivity had been confirmed.
Roshchina worked for the publication Hromadske. She also later published in Ukrainska Pravda and Radio Liberty. In 2022, she received the International Women's Media Foundation award for Courage in Journalism.
