Russia has returned the body of a Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who was captured in occupied east Ukraine and later died in Russian custody, a Ukrainian lawmaker said Thursday. The Ukrainian prosecutors have said that her body showed signs of torture. A CNN report mentioned that even her organs were removed. Roshchyna died aged 27. 

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In August 2023, she disappeared while on a reporting trip to the Moscow-held part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region after travelling via Russian territory and remained missing for months. 

Her father received a letter in April 2024 from Moscow's defence ministry saying she was being held in Russian detention. However, the letter didn't reveal anything about the circumstances of her arrest. Russia also did not explain her death, which was first reported in October 2024. 

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As quoted by CNN, Yuriy Belousov, who is the head of the war crimes department at the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office, said that forensic examination found "numerous signs of torture and ill-treatment… including abrasions and hemorrhages on various parts of the body, a broken rib and possible traces of electric shock". Belousov further stated that the experts have determined that Roshchyna sustained injuries when she was still alive.

As reported by CNN, Roshchyna’s colleagues at Ukrainska Pravda said her body was returned from Russia with missing organs. 

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"Victoria Roshchyna's body is in Ukraine. The journalist's body was returned as part of an exchange at the end of February," Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Yurchyshyn said Thursday as quoted by AFP. 

Officials chose not to reveal her body had been returned until they were absolutely certain it was her, Yurchyshyn said. 

"Given the torture and the condition of the body, Roshchyna's family requested not one, but several DNA examinations," he added. 

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Roshchyna was also arrested in 2022

Roshchyna was detained by Russian forces in March 2022 while reporting on military operations in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions. She was held for ten days before being released. Despite this, she continued to report on the conflict. 

She even received the International Women's Media Foundation's 2022 Courage in Journalism Award for her fearless reporting.

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Slidstva, which is a Ukrainian investigative news outlet, and Reporters Without Borders conducted a joint investigation and found that she was arrested in Energodar in southern Ukraine, and later held for several weeks in the Russian-held city of Melitopol. 

From there, she was transferred to a jail in the Russian port city of Taganrog. The investigation said she stopped eating in prison and had "knife wounds" on her body, according to her cellmate.