Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has posthumously awarded journalist Victoria Roshchyna with the Order of Freedom, according to a presidential decree.

The document states the award recognizes her “civic courage, patriotism, selfless defense of sovereignty and independence of the Ukrainian state, constitutional rights and human freedoms.”

“Today we honor Victoria Roshchyna posthumously. She is awarded the Order of Freedom. For unwavering faith that freedom will overcome everything. Honor and bright memory to Victoria Roshchyna,” Zelenskyy wrote.

Roshchyna disappeared on temporarily occupied territories on 3 August 2023. Russia first confirmed holding her in captivity only in May 2024. This marked her second abduction by Russian forces – she had previously been kidnapped in March 2022 but was released after ten days.

News of her death emerged on 10 October 2024, when Russian officials informed her father Volodymyr, with Ukrainian authorities later confirming the information.

The Media Initiative for Human Rights reported that Roshchyna was held in at least two detention facilities: correctional colony №77 in Berdiansk and detention center №2 in Taganrog, Russia. The Taganrog facility is known as “one of the most brutal detention places for Ukrainians on Russian territory,” according to the organization.

Roshchyna’s body was returned to Ukraine in late February, though this information was first made public on 24 April. Journalists learned that she was initially held in Enerhodar and later transferred to Melitopol.

A cellmate described finding multiple scars on Roshchyna’s arms and legs, as well as knife wounds. The journalist told her she had been tortured with electricity, after which “she was all blue,” according to the cellmate’s account. Roshchyna later began losing weight dramatically, refusing food until she weighed around 30 kilograms.

A new forensic examination of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna’s body has uncovered additional injuries not previously reported, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General’s response to a LIGA.net inquiry.

The examination, conducted on 9 July by the Main Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination of the Ministry of Health, revealed that Roshchyna suffered neck trauma, bone fractures, hemorrhages in soft tissues of the temporal area, right shoulder and shins, and abrasions on her left foot. The previous examination had identified hemorrhages on various body parts and a broken rib.

Roshchyna, 27, disappeared on 3 August 2023, in occupied Ukrainian territory. The Security Service of Ukraine and later the Russian side confirmed that Russian forces had taken the journalist captive. On 10 October 2024, the Coordination Headquarters confirmed her death in Russia, with an investigation into her death in Russian captivity beginning the following day.

The journalist’s body was returned to Ukraine on 24 April 2025, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, which reported that numerous signs of torture were found on Roshchyna’s body.

Despite the additional findings, the cause of death remains undetermined.

“At the time of the examination, Roshchyna’s body was in a state of pronounced cadaveric changes with tissue structure disruption, which does not allow establishing the cause of death and linking it to bodily injuries,” said Maryana Hayovska-Kovbasyuk, head of the information policy and communications department of the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Hayovska-Kovbasyuk added that the body was transferred to Ukraine in a state of “deep freezing with signs of mummification and decomposition.”

Results from biological samples previously collected by French experts from Roshchyna’s body are still pending, according to Hayovska-Kovbasyuk. Ukraine is currently conducting another examination – a forensic medical-criminalistic one.

As part of the case regarding the illegal detention and murder of the Ukrainian journalist on Russian territory, the National Police has questioned witnesses about the circumstances of Roshchyna’s stay in places of detention in Russia, including investigative isolator No. 2 in Taganrog, Rostov region, and detention center No. 3 in Kizel, Perm region.

Measures are being taken to identify individuals involved in her torture and murder. The article under which the case was opened – cruel treatment of civilians resulting in death – carries a penalty of life imprisonment.

Moscow is turning occupied Ukrainian cities into military bases for further aggression. In Mariupol, captured in 2022, Russian forces have established two military bases at the Azovstal steel plant, according to Petro Andriushchenko, head of the Center for the Study of Occupation, UNIAN reports. 

According to Andriushchenko, one of the new bases was established in the last two months.

“This shows the level of militarization of Mariupol. Russian forces are relocating military assets mainly from Russia’s Rostov Oblast. Mariupol is no longer just a logistical crossroads. It is becoming a full-scale military logistics base,” he reveals. 

Andriushchenko says that each base at Azovstal originated from simple military checkpoints set up on the site.

He explains the location was chosen because it is hidden from outside surveillance, with no nearby residential buildings and difficult access due to fencing, making it safer for Russian troops.

“Let’s not forget that these bunkers and underground shelters once served to protect civilians and our Mariupol garrison. Now the Russians are repurposing them and succeeding in it,” Andriushchenko adds.

The Russian authorities do not care about the fate of the occupied cities or their residents. What matters to them is using these territories as staging grounds for continuing the war against Ukraine.

Nearly all Ukrainian cities under occupation are being turned into military footholds, logistical hubs, and bases for further aggression. At the same time, Russians forcibly conscript Ukrainians, often coercing them into fighting against their own country.

For example, in Crimea, people are leaving due to constant air raid sirens, explosions, and the overwhelming military presence, unable to endure the unrelenting stress and danger.

Russians in Crimea pack up as relentless sound of air alerts and sight of tanks become their new reality

Ukrainian journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko was released on June 20 after more than four years of detention in Russian-occupied Crimea, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.

Yesypenko, a freelance contributor to Crimea.Realities, a regional project of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, reported on various issues in Crimea before being detained by Russia’s FSB in March 2021.

He was accused of espionage and possession of explosives, charges he denied, and later sentenced to five years in prison by a Russian-controlled court.

Yesypenko said he was tortured, including with electric shocks, to force a confession, and was denied access to independent lawyers for nearly a month after his arrest.

RFE/RL welcomed his release, thanking the U.S. and Ukrainian governments for their efforts. Yesypenko has since left Russian-occupied Crimea.

“Vlad was arbitrarily punished for a crime he didn’t commit… he paid too high a price for telling the truth about occupied Crimea,” said RFE/RL President Steven Kapus.

During his imprisonment, Yesypenko became a symbol of press freedom, receiving several prestigious awards, including the Free Media Award and PEN America’s Freedom to Write Award.

His case drew support from human rights groups, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, and international advocates for media freedom.

Russia invaded and unlawfully annexed Crimea in 2014, cracking down violently on any opposition to its regime.

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin toughened its grip on dissent, passing laws in March 2022 that prohibit what authorities label as "false" criticism of Russia's war.

Crimean Tatar freed from Russian captivity: ‘Recognizing Russia’s control of Crimea would legitimize crime’

For nearly two years in Russian captivity, Leniie Umerova clung to a single hope: that one day, she would return home — to Crimea. “I thought about Crimea all the time,” Umerova told the Kyiv Independent. “I dreamed of going there without the permission of the occupying forces, without going through

The Kyiv IndependentDaria Shulzhenko

Over 45 Ukrainians forcibly deported by Russia from Ukraine's occupied territories are being held in a basement at Russia's border with Georgia without food, water, and basic healthcare, independent media outlet Astra reported on June 21.

"We are in a basement without utilities: there is no shower or toilet, they don't feed us. Volunteers bring humanitarian aid, but it lasts for a couple of days and not for everyone," one of the held Ukrainians told Astra.

A decree by Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Ukrainians still living in occupied territories to leave unless they "regulate their legal status," namely, obtaining Russian citizenship.

"We emphasize that these systematic deportations and persecutions are part of Russia's genocide policy against the Ukrainian people," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said on March 21.

At least 45 Ukrainians have been held at the Verkhniy Lars border checkpoint between Georgia and Russia for several days.

One of the deported Ukrainians has been hospitalized as they await passage out of Russia and into Georgia.

"There were 8 of us, 3 days ago. Every day, more people are brought here and the number is growing. Now there are 45 people, some have been here for a month. There are disabled people and people with serious illnesses," one of the held Ukrainians said.

The basement facility has since 2023 held deported Ukrainians barred from entering the Russian Federation and the Ukrainian territories it occupies.

The held Ukrainians were denied entry into Georgia. Most did not have the necessary travel documents, but 16 Ukrainians with passports were denied entry as well, Astra reported, citing the non-profit organization Tbilisi Volunteers Organization.

"The basement is damp, there are drops of water on the ceiling, (it's hard) to breathe, everyone smokes, they don't let us outside. We sleep for four hours, taking turns. Some sleep on the floor," one of the deported Ukrainians said.

The basement only houses 17 sleeping spaces, but another 100 deported Ukrainians are expected to arrive at the facility, a volunteer told Astra.

Following a pause in deportations to Georgia in 2024, Russia has resumed deportations as Georgia prepares new immigration legislation, the Tbilisi Volunteers Organization says.

Serhiy Serdiuk, a resident of occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast, was deported and banned from re-entering Russia and Ukraine's occupied territories for 40 years, the Guardian reported on June 21.

Russian authorities pressed Serdiuk, an educator, to continue work under Russia's imposed school curriculum.

Serdiuk and other staff at a school in Zaporizhzhia Oblast's Komysh-Zoria town refused and were met with threats.

Serdiuk was similarly deported to Georgia, from where he flew to Moldova and crossed back into Ukraine.

Due to Russia's illegal and unrecognized annexation of Ukraine's occupied territories, Ukrainian citizens are pressured to obtain Russian citizenship or face deportation and entry bans.

Pro-Russian ‘peace protestors’ set to descend on NATO summit

Dutch protesters who regularly call for an end to military aid to Ukraine will descend on The Hague next week to protest the upcoming NATO summit, which is set to take place on June 24-25. The group will protest against NATO alongside several other organizations and has urged supporters on

The Kyiv IndependentLinda Hourani

Since 2021, Russian Wagner mercenaries have detained, tortured, and forcibly disappeared hundreds of civilians in secret prisons across Mali, according to a joint investigation published on June 12 by Forbidden Stories, France 24, Le Monde, and IStories.

The investigation found that mercenaries with Russia's Wagner Group, working alongside Malian government forces, had systematically abducted and detained civilians, holding them in prisons at former United Nations bases and military bases across Mali.

Drawing on eyewitness accounts and satellite imagery, the investigation identified six detention centers where Wagner held civilians between 2022 and 2024. The total number of Wagner detention centers in Mali is likely to be much higher.

Prisoners were subjected to systematic torture – including beatings, waterboarding, electric shocks, starvation, and confinement in sweltering metal containers.

The investigation was carried out as part of the Viktoriia project, in memory of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who was captured by Russian forces in 2023 while investigating the illegal detention of civilians in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. She was killed in Russian captivity in 2024.

The Russian mercenary group, known for its deployment in Ukraine and short-lived rebellion against the Kremlin in 2023, has a strong presence across the African continent, backing Russian business interests and Moscow-friendly regimes.

The mercenaries have been particularly active in Mali since late 2021 and have been accused of perpetrating war crimes. In December 2024, Human Rights Watch accused Wagner mercenaries and Malian government forces of deliberately killing 32 civilians.

The Wagner Group recently announced its withdrawal from Mali, where it fought alongside Malian government forces to fend off Islamist insurgents. Wagner has been active across the African continent for years and has been previously accused of committing human rights abuses.

Ukraine war latest: Ukraine strikes targets in Russia, including gunpowder plant

Key developments on June 11: * Ukrainian drones strike targets in Russia, including gunpowder plant, General Staff says * Zelensky urges ‘stronger’ EU sanctions on Russia, lower oil price cap * Ukraine repatriates bodies of 1,212 fallen soldiers * Ukraine’s SBU releases fresh video of Operation Spiderweb, teases ‘new surprises’ * NATO summit statement

The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk