Viktoriia Roshchyna disappeared in August 2023 in a part of Ukraine now occupied by Russian forces. It took nine months for Russian authorities to confirmed the journalist had been detained. They gave no reason.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine needs special assistance from the Vatican regarding the exchange of prisoners of war. Source: Zelenskyy's evening address on 11 October Quote: "This morning,

Viktoria Roshchina, a 27-year-old reporter, had been detained by the Russian authorities after reporting from occupied territories in Ukraine.