EU preparing personal sanctions against Russian prison officials linked to torture and killing of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna

The European Union plans to impose personal sanctions on officials of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) who were involved in the torture and killing of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, as well as on security officers and judges implicated in political persecution, the independent media outlet Sistema reported. The sanctions list will include FSIN officers responsible for torturing Ukrainian prisoners at pretrial detention center SIZO-2 in Taganrog, where Roshchyna was held until at least early September 2024.

Sistema noted that the sanctions will also target judges and investigators involved in the political persecution of journalists and activists. EU ambassadors approved the decision on Nov. 12. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent Rikard Jozwiak confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that the EU had agreed on the sanctions list, which includes 10 Russian citizens — among them four prison officials responsible for Roshchyna’s death.

In April, the Ukrainian investigative outlet Slidstvo.Info reported that Roshchyna may have died not in Taganrog, but in a detention facility in the Perm Region, thousands of kilometers from the Russia-Ukraine border. According to the investigation, she was transferred in September 2024 from SIZO-2 in Taganrog to SIZO-3 in the Perm Region’s town of Kizel, where she died on Sept. 19 at age 27. A former Ukrainian prisoner of war told reporters that inmates in Kizel were beaten unconscious and female prisoners were forcibly shaved bald.

Roshchyna went missing in August 2023 while reporting from the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. Russian authorities did not acknowledge that they were holding her until May 2024. When Roshchyna’s body was returned to Ukraine in February 2025, it showed signs of torture, and several internal organs were missing.

According to Sistema, the sanctions list includes:

• Andrei Polyakov — head of the FSIN branch in Rostov region; under his command, Ukrainian prisoners at SIZO-2 in Taganrog were subjected to torture, beatings, and denial of medical care.
  
  
• Andrei Mikhailychenko — deputy head of SIZO-2 for security and operations; held responsible for torture and abuse of Ukrainian prisoners.
  
  
• Andrei Sapitsky — deputy director for personnel at SIZO-2; identified as part of the group of officials involved in the torture system.
  
  
• Alexander Shtoda — director of SIZO-2; named by Ukrainian intelligence and media investigations as responsible for the deaths of at least 15 Ukrainian prisoners.
  
  
• Timur Vakhrameyev — judge of Moscow’s Basmanny District Court; extended pretrial detention for lawyers and journalists linked to the Navalny movement.
  
  
• Artemy Telminov — investigator with Russia’s Investigative Committee; led cases against journalists and lawyers associated with Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF).
  
  
• Boris Kozhevnikov — deputy chair of the Military Appeals Court; participated in upholding politically motivated verdicts, including in the case of opposition politician Alexei Gorinov.
  
  
• Maxim Panin — judge of the same court; also took part in confirming politically motivated sentences.
  
  
• Marina Ushakova — judge of the same court; involved in approving political verdicts.
  
  
• Svetlana Rygalova — prosecutor who represented the state in Gorinov’s trial under charges of “justifying terrorism.”