Russia Returned Ukrainian Journalist Viktoria Roshchyna’s Body Without Internal Organs
An international investigation has revealed that the body of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity, was returned to Ukraine missing several internal organs, potentially to conceal the cause of death.
According to a joint investigation by Forbidden Stories and 13 international media outlets, Roshchyna’s body was transferred to Ukraine on February 14, 2025, as part of a repatriation operation involving the return of 757 fallen Ukrainians. Russian do ents marked the body, listed as number 757, as an “unidentified male” with a reference note: “СПАС.”
Initial examinations by Ukrainian forensic experts determined that the body was female. A DNA analysis conducted by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine confirmed a 99% match with Viktoria Roshchyna.
The body showed signs of a postmortem dissection carried out in Russia and presented clear evidence of torture, including abrasions, bruises, a broken rib, and suspected injuries from electric shocks.
Investigators discovered that several organs were missing, including the brain, both eyeballs, and part of the trachea. According to an international forensic expert consulted by journalists, the absence of these organs could have been intended to obscure evidence of death by strangulation or suffocation.
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