The death of an award-winning Ukrainian journalist held in Russian captivity for more than a year has been confirmed, authorities announced this week.

Victoria Roshchyna, 27, went missing in August 2023 after traveling to Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine to report.

As a freelance journalist, her work on the front lines sheds light on life in Ukraine under Russian occupation at the start of the invasion that began in 2022.

Roshchyna was reportedly missing until April, when her father received a letter from Moscow’s Defense Ministry saying she was in Russian custody.

Even then, the details of her arrest and the exact location where she was held remained unknown.

“Unfortunately, information about Victoria’s death has been confirmed,” Petro Yatsenko, spokesman for Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, said on Thursday.

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

A letter her family allegedly received from the Russian Defense Ministry said she died on September 19, according to the group Reporters Without Borders.

According to Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov, Roshchyna was intended to be part of a prisoner exchange. “Everything necessary was done” for the exchange, he said.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said it had expanded its war crimes investigation into Roshchyna’s disappearance to include murder.

The European Union called for “a thorough and independent investigation that clarifies all the circumstances” of her death, according to a statement.

“Their fate is a tragic reminder of the many thousands of people imprisoned in the occupied Ukrainian territories and Russia, as well as the repression by the Russian authorities,” the EU said.

For her reporting, Roshchyna received the 2022 Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation.

“We hope her death will not be in vain,” the group said in a statement. “The international community must put pressure on Russia to stop targeting journalists and silencing press freedom.”

Thousands of Ukrainian civilians and journalists are being held without charge in Russian custody and have no access to legal representation, BBC Russia reported in January.

With post wires