A Ukrainian journalist captured by Moscow while reporting from the occupied East Ukraine has died in Russian custody, a Ukrainian official said Thursday.

Victoria Roshchyna, who would have turned 28 this month, disappeared in August last year after traveling to Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine for a report.

According to Ukraine’s main journalists’ union, she remained missing until April 2024, when her father received a letter from the Moscow Defense Ministry saying she was in Russian custody.

The circumstances of her arrest were not made public and it was not clear where she was being held in Russia.

“Unfortunately, the information about Victoria’s death has been confirmed,” Petro Yatsenko, spokesman for the headquarters of the Ukrainian POW Coordination, said on Thursday.

“It is still too early to talk about the circumstances of the death, we are working to clarify them,” he added.

In a social media post, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine condemned the killing and called for an immediate investigation.

“We urge the global community to increase pressure on Russia to release all Ukrainian journalists illegally held by the occupiers,” the group said.

The Russian news agency Mediazona reported that she died while being transferred to Moscow from a prison in Taganrog, near the Ukrainian border.

Thousands of Ukrainians opposed to Moscow’s rule have been held in occupied territories since Russia’s invasion began in 2022, many of which face torture by security forces, human rights groups say.

In January 2024, BBC Russia reported that thousands of Ukrainian civilians, including journalists, were being held in Russian custody without facing charges or access to legal representation.

Ukraine said in May that more than two dozen Ukrainian media representatives were in Russian captivity and that negotiations were underway for their return.

Roshchyna worked as a freelancer for various independent news outlets, including Ukrainska Pravda, and had worked with the Ukrainian service of the US-funded media company Radio Free Europe.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Roshchina was detained by Russian forces for ten days in March 2022 while reporting in southeastern Ukraine.

She received the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation in 2022 for her reporting from eastern Ukraine.

“Victoria’s death is not only the loss of a remarkable woman, but also a fearless witness to history,” the group said in a statement on Thursday. “Regardless of the cause of death, we can say with certainty that her life was taken because she dared to speak the truth. We hope that her death will not be in vain: the international community must put pressure on Russia to stop targeting journalists and silencing press freedom.” “