This is the 962nd day of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. On the wPolitce.pl website, we report events on the front for you.

READ MORE: REPORTS from the war day by day.

Saturday, October 12, 2024

00:01. After the death of a journalist detained in Russia, a war crimes investigation begins

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office has announced that it has launched an investigation into “war crimes” in connection with the death of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchina, who was detained in Russia in the occupied territories, AFP reported.

Criminal proceedings initiated over his disappearance were reclassified as war crimes involving premeditated murder.

— said the prosecutor’s office in a statement published on Telegram.

On Thursday, the family of Roszczyna, who died at the age of 27, received a letter from the Russian Ministry of Defense in which her relatives were informed about the death of the detained journalist last year – said the non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders. Roszczyna’s death was confirmed by Ukrainian authorities on Thursday, but the cause and circumstances of her death are unknown.

Illegal detention and kidnapping of journalists are Russia’s weapons against freedom of expression

– said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Roszczyna, who collaborated with, among other things, the newspaper “Ukraińska Pravda”, disappeared in August 2023 in Russian-occupied territory. Moscow confirmed the reporter’s detention only in the spring of this year, the agency recalled.

According to independent Russian media, the journalist died while being transported from prison in Taganrog in southwest Russia to Moscow. Ukrainian prisoner of war official Petro Yatsenko said his transfer was “a step towards preparations for release” as part of the exchange.

Reporters Without Borders called on Russian authorities to “explain the circumstances of Roszczyna’s detention and death.”

According to Kiev, around 25 Ukrainian journalists are currently detained in Russia, AFP stressed.

ed/PAP/X/FB