Ukrainian PM announces start of payments to families of journalists killed by Russia
The government has begun making payments in cases where journalists have been killed or injured while carrying out their professional duties. The decision provides for one-off assistance via the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine.
Source: Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko
Details: The programme was included in the state budget for 2026.
The first payment is to be made to the father of journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who has been killed in Russian captivity.
Quote: "For the Ukrainian state, this is a matter of justice for those who selflessly sought the truth, documented evidence of Russian crimes and lost their lives as a result.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has killed 21 journalists in the line of duty, among them Ukrainians and foreigners."
Background:
- In 2022, Roshchyna wrote a series of reports for Ukrainska Pravda from temporarily occupied territories, including pieces on life in occupied Crimea during the war, on how the pseudo-referendum was conducted in Russian-occupied Donetsk Oblast and a photo feature from devastated Mariupol.
- Viktoriia Roshchyna disappeared on 3 August 2023 while reporting from Russian-occupied territory.
- Russia delayed the return of Roshchyna's body, which was only repatriated in February 2025.
- According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, Roshchyna's body showed multiple signs of torture and cruel treatment, including abrasions, haemorrhages, a broken rib and evidence of electric shocks.
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