Întrebări fără răspuns la înmormântarea jurnalistei ucrainene Victoria Roșcina, fostă colaboratoare a RFE/RL, torturată și ucisă de ruși
Familia, prietenii și colegii organizează o ceremonie de rămas bun pe 8 august pentru jurnalista ucraineană Victoria Roșcina, care se pare că a fost torturată înainte de a muri în timp ce se afla în captivitate în Rusia.
Familia, prietenii și colegii au organizat o ceremonie de rămas bun la Kiev, pe 8 august, pentru jurnalista ucraineană Victoria Roșcina, care a dispărut în teritoriile ocupate de Rusia, pentru ca apoi să-i fie confirmată moartea în timp ce se afla în detenție la ruși, unde se pare că a fost torturată.
Roșcina, jurnalist freelancer în vârstă de 27 de ani, care a lucrat pentru RFE/RL și alte instituții media ucrainene importante, a dispărut la începutul lunii august 2023.
Un an mai târziu, ea și-a sunat familia din custodia rusă, singura dată când tatăi ei a auzit de ea după ce a dispărut.
Abia în octombrie 2024, moartea ei a fost confirmată de Petro Iațenko, un reprezentant al Personalului de Coordonare pentru Tratamentul Prizonierilor de Război din Ucraina, în urma unei anchete privind dispariția sa.
„Victoria, ca persoană, ca jurnalistă, ca colegă, era cineva pentru care era important să facă ceea ce nimeni altcineva nu putea sau nici măcar nu voia să facă”, a declarat Taras Ilkiv, redactor-șef digital al biroului ucrainean al RFE/RL, în timpul ceremoniei de la Kiev.
Roșcina călătorise din Ucraina în Polonia pe 27 iulie 2023, înainte de a se îndrepta spre teritoriile ocupate de Rusia din estul Ucrainei, potrivit tatălui ei, Volodimir Roșcin.
El a spus că Ministerul Apărării din Rusia l-a informat în mai 2024 că fiica sa a fost reținută și se află pe teritoriul Federației Ruse, dar nu a oferit niciun motiv pentru care este reținută.
Ultima ei comunicare a fost pe 3 august 2023, iar în octombrie 2024, autoritățile ruse i-au spus lui Roșcin că fiica lui a murit în urmă cu o lună.
Din nou, nu au fost oferite detalii, dar pe 14 februarie anul acesta, un cadavru cu numărul 757 și marcat de documentele rusești drept „bărbat neidentificat” a fost predat Ucrainei.
Patologii au stabilit rapid că trupul era de fapt al unei femei. O examinare efectuată de anchetatorii de la Parchetul General a relevat o potrivire de 99% cu ADN-ul Victoriei Roșcina.
Documentul rus conținea și denumirea „SPAS”, folosită pentru a desemna „insuficiența totală a arterelor inimii”.
Analiștii spun că desemnarea SPAS a fost probabil o încercare a autorităților ruse de a ascunde dovezile torturii și strangularea.
Iuri Belusov, șeful Departamentului pentru Combaterea Crimelor Comise în Conflictele Armate din Parchetul General al Ucrainei, a declarat pentru serviciul News of Azov al RFE/RL că, deși este „extrem de dificil” să se stabilească vătămări corporale atunci când un cadavru este returnat în starea în care se afla cel al Victoriei, experții au reușit totuși să stabilească în mod concludent „dovezi că Victoria a fost cu siguranță abuzată”.
Undercover In Ukraine's Occupied Kherson: 'You Don't Know What Will Happen Tomorrow'
1/16A Russian servicemen outside one of the occupied villages near Kherson.
"We are from Donetsk. How do you feel about May 9?" one soldier asked RFE/RL at a checkpoint, referring to the date on which Russia commemorates Victory Day over Nazi Germany. After checking documents, those manning checkpoints often ask for cigarettes.
Kherson is the only Ukrainian provincial capital to have fallen during Moscow's invasion of its western neighbor. Earlier this month, RFE/RL reporter Viktoria Roshchyna traveled undercover to the city and nearby settlements to speak with people who are living under Russian occupation and to discuss the problems they face.
2/16A Russian checkpoint in the occupied Kherson region in April 2022.
The road to Kherson is nearly empty. On the way you can find broken equipment, plundered gas stations, and shell craters. Fields and forests -- what the Kherson region has always been famous for -- are now "sown" with the equipment of the Russian occupiers.
“People were sowing and planning the harvest. And now what? ” one local driver told RFE/RL.
Kherson is the only Ukrainian provincial capital to have fallen during Moscow's invasion of its western neighbor. Earlier this month, RFE/RL reporter Viktoria Roshchyna traveled undercover to the city and nearby settlements to speak with people who are living under Russian occupation and to discuss the problems they face.
3/16A Russian armored personnel carrier near one of the villages in the occupied Kherson region.
"A lot of vehicles are coming in from Crimea. Every night, we hear them move," one local resident said. "When our troops start a counterattack, it will be hot."
Kherson is the only Ukrainian provincial capital to have fallen during Moscow's invasion of its western neighbor. Earlier this month, RFE/RL reporter Viktoria Roshchyna traveled undercover to the city and nearby settlements to speak with people who are living under Russian occupation and to discuss the problems they face.
4/16Occupying troops raise a Soviet victory banner, featuring the hammer and sickle, at Park Slavy (Park of Glory) in central Kherson. It's a copy of the flag raised over Berlin's Reichstag and is now an official symbol of the U.S.S.R.'s victory over Nazi Germany.
Kherson is the only Ukrainian provincial capital to have fallen during Moscow's invasion of its western neighbor. Earlier this month, RFE/RL reporter Viktoria Roshchyna traveled undercover to the city and nearby settlements to speak with people who are living under Russian occupation and to discuss the problems they face.
5/16A billboard in Kherson says: “Kherson is Ukraine. Ukraine is Europe."
"The occupiers are deeply disappointed because there is no support for them," says one local farmer. "They are not wanted here. The Kherson region is a deeply pro-Ukrainian territory. They were lucky with Crimea because there really was a large pro-Russian population there. Here, no."
Kherson is the only Ukrainian provincial capital to have fallen during Moscow's invasion of its western neighbor. Earlier this month, RFE/RL reporter Viktoria Roshchyna traveled undercover to the city and nearby settlements to speak with people who are living under Russian occupation and to discuss the problems they face.
6/16Russian vehicles move through the streets of occupied Kherson.
"The sense of protection is completely absent," says one city resident. "When a person comes to you with a machine gun, you clearly understand that he can do anything with you."
Kherson is the only Ukrainian provincial capital to have fallen during Moscow's invasion of its western neighbor. Earlier this month, RFE/RL reporter Viktoria Roshchyna traveled undercover to the city and nearby settlements to speak with people who are living under Russian occupation and to discuss the problems they face.
7/16An impromptu memorial for children who have died during the war in front of the Palace of Culture in the town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region.
"This building is opposite the Russian commandant's office," said one man as he walked by. "They bring toys here so that they can see and remember."
Kherson is the only Ukrainian provincial capital to have fallen during Moscow's invasion of its western neighbor. Earlier this month, RFE/RL reporter Viktoria Roshchyna traveled undercover to the city and nearby settlements to speak with people who are living under Russian occupation and to discuss the problems they face.
8/16A pro-Russia TV channel broadcasting the "liberation operation" in occupied Kherson.
"As soon as they entered the city, they drowned out the Ukrainian channels and launched their own. After a while, cable TV and radio stations were turned off. Not a single Ukrainian newspaper is published in Kherson," said a local media expert, who also warned of the dangers of reporting in the occupied territories.
"You know, we used to think that a camera and a microphone were a means of protection," he said. "But now, it is a 'red rag' to the occupiers. Going out and filming something is putting yourself in danger.”
Kherson is the only Ukrainian provincial capital to have fallen during Moscow's invasion of its western neighbor. Earlier this month, RFE/RL reporter Viktoria Roshchyna traveled undercover to the city and nearby settlements to speak with people who are living under Russian occupation and to discuss the problems they face.
9/16Russian troops patrol near the Kherson Regional State Administration.
"All thinking Kherson residents are for Ukraine, of course," one local resident told RFE/RL. "But now there is some uncertainty -- and this gives rise to fear. You don't know what will happen tomorrow."
Kherson is the only Ukrainian provincial capital to have fallen during Moscow's invasion of its western neighbor. Earlier this month, RFE/RL reporter Viktoria Roshchyna traveled undercover to the city and nearby settlements to speak with people who are living under Russian occupation and to discuss the problems they face.
10/16Volunteers from occupied Kherson prepare and distribute Easter cakes for residents of nearby settlements who are under heavy shelling.
According to one local volunteer, the occupiers have "artificially created a humanitarian catastrophe in Kherson in order to import goods from Crimea. They do not allow any humanitarian convoys from Ukraine to pass through. All of this is delivered by volunteers at their own risk."
Kherson is the only Ukrainian provincial capital to have fallen during Moscow's invasion of its western neighbor. Earlier this month, RFE/RL reporter Viktoria Roshchyna traveled undercover to the city and nearby settlements to speak with people who are living under Russian occupation and to discuss the problems they face.
Kherson is the only Ukrainian provincial capital to have fallen during Moscow's invasion of its western neighbor. Earlier this month, RFE/RL reporter Viktoria Roshchyna traveled undercover to the city and nearby settlements to speak with people who are living under Russian occupation and to discuss the problems they face.
12/16Medicines are prepared for delivery in occupied Kherson.
"It is very difficult to supply medicines to the Kherson region now," says Iryna, a local volunteer. "The invaders do not give us 'green corridors.' Drivers who carry medical supplies often disappear. They take away their phones, cars, and the medicines themselves."
Kherson is the only Ukrainian provincial capital to have fallen during Moscow's invasion of its western neighbor. Earlier this month, RFE/RL reporter Viktoria Roshchyna traveled undercover to the city and nearby settlements to speak with people who are living under Russian occupation and to discuss the problems they face.
13/16A rescue worker in occupied Nova Kakhovka walks toward the State Emergency building where a Russian flag now flies.
While some rescue workers left when the occupation began, others remained to assist their fellow citizens. "As for the fact that the government abandoned Kherson, this is just an insult," said a local volunteer. "There is no feeling yet that we will be liberated."
Kherson is the only Ukrainian provincial capital to have fallen during Moscow's invasion of its western neighbor. Earlier this month, RFE/RL reporter Viktoria Roshchyna traveled undercover to the city and nearby settlements to speak with people who are living under Russian occupation and to discuss the problems they face.
14/16People attend a church service in occupied Kherson.
"We pray. We do our jobs. Of course, we want Ukraine to be here," said a local clergymen. "I also have a family. They also cry. But I try to avoid politics."
Kherson is the only Ukrainian provincial capital to have fallen during Moscow's invasion of its western neighbor. Earlier this month, RFE/RL reporter Viktoria Roshchyna traveled undercover to the city and nearby settlements to speak with people who are living under Russian occupation and to discuss the problems they face.
15/16A Russian checkpoint in occupied Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region.
According to Kherson Mayor Ihor Kolykhayev, more than 40 percent of residents have left the city, including more than 3,000 children. In a Facebook post on April 16, Ukraine's ombudswoman for human rights, Lyudmyla Denisova, said that Russia intends to hold a "referendum" to create a "People's Republic of Kherson."
According to the Denisova, Russian troops intend to turn off all communications in Kherson and to stop anyone entering or exiting the city between May 1 and May 10. The vote they reportedly plan to stage mirrors what occurred in the occupied Luhansk and Donetsk regions in 2014.
Kherson is the only Ukrainian provincial capital to have fallen during Moscow's invasion of its western neighbor. Earlier this month, RFE/RL reporter Viktoria Roshchyna traveled undercover to the city and nearby settlements to speak with people who are living under Russian occupation and to discuss the problems they face.
16/16An inscription on the asphalt: "Kherson is Ukraine."
Kherson is the only Ukrainian provincial capital to have fallen during Moscow's invasion of its western neighbor. Earlier this month, RFE/RL reporter Viktoria Roshchyna traveled undercover to the city and nearby settlements to speak with people who are living under Russian occupation and to discuss the problems they face.
Secvența anterioară
Secvența următoare
El adaugă, însă, că, având în vedere starea în care se afla cadavrul când a fost returnat, „va fi extrem de dificil să se stabilească cauza prin intermediul examinărilor medicale medico-legale”, ceea ce face și mai importantă stabilirea faptelor legate de dispariția și încarcerarea tinerei pentru a-i putea urmări pe cei responsabili.
„Toate aceste circumstanțe sunt în curs de clarificare. Și toate acele persoane care au fost implicate în acest caz, toate sunt în mod clar în centrul atenției noastre. Prin urmare, de fapt, sarcina noastră este să le identificăm și să încercăm să le aducem în fața justiției fie în lipsă, fie personal, dacă ajung în mâinile noastre sau în mâinile colegilor noștri din străinătate”, a declarat Belousov.
Cazul Victoriei Roșcina evidențiază pericolele cu care se confruntă jurnaliștii care relatează în zonele de război.
Potrivit Reporteri fără Frontiere (RSF), aproximativ 29 de jurnaliști ucraineni se aflau în detenție rusă începând cu luna iunie, „unii de aproape un deceniu, adesea ținuți la mii de kilometri de familiile lor și supuși unor tratamente inumane”.
