The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine announced charges in absentia against the head of Detention Center No. 2 in Taganrog in the case of organizing the torture of journalist Viktoria Roshchina. According to the Ukrainian portal «Zmina info», this refers to Alexander Shtoda, who headed the detention center since the fall of 2022. In Ukraine, he faces up to 12 years in prison.
According to the prosecution, Roshchina was held in this facility after being transferred there by Russian military from the occupied territory of the Zaporizhzhia region. In the detention center, the journalist was subjected to «systematic torture, beatings, humiliation, threats, and severe restrictions on access to medical care, drinking water, and food». It is also reported that physical punishments and psychological pressure were used on her to force cooperation with the detention center administration.
Ukrainian prosecutors note that the suspect was aware of Roshchina's civilian status, yet allowed violations of international humanitarian law, including the provisions of the Geneva Convention.
In April of this year, it became known that journalist Viktoria Roshchina, who spent more than a year in Russian captivity, was returned to Ukraine with removed internal organs, which can be explained by attempts to conceal the cause of death and traces of torture.
Roshchina disappeared on August 3, 2023, in the occupied territory, where she went on a journalistic mission. Almost a year later, in May 2024, Russia acknowledged her detention, and by October, it was reported that she had died in Russian custody, when she was already on the exchange lists.