Accessibility links

Breaking News

Lawyer Says Captive Ukrainian Pilot Savchenko Enjoys Support At Home


Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko, whom Russia accuses of abetting the killing of two Russian journalists during fighting in eastern Ukraine, is seen via closed-circuit television during a the trial in a Voronezh regional court in July.
Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko, whom Russia accuses of abetting the killing of two Russian journalists during fighting in eastern Ukraine, is seen via closed-circuit television during a the trial in a Voronezh regional court in July.

The attorney for captive Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko has told RFE/RL his client enjoys the support of voters back in Ukraine, where she was recently elected to a seat in parliament.

Mark Feigin said in an October 31 interview that Ukrainian voters clearly did not believe claims by Russia's Investigative Committee that Savchenko was involved in the murder of Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine earlier this year.

Savchenko won a seat in parliament in the October 26 parliamentary elections, running on the party list of Yulia Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna Party.

Savchenko was captured by pro-Russian separatists on June 18 in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region before turning up in Russian custody in early July.

She has said she was hooded and handcuffed by those rebels and smuggled across the border to be handed over to the Russians.

She was later confined to a psychiatric institute in Moscow.

However, Feigin said via Twitter on October 31 that Savchenko is now being moved from the psychiatric institute back to a pretrial detention facility.

  • 16x9 Image

    RFE/RL

    RFE/RL journalists report the news in 27 languages in 23 countries where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established. We provide what many people cannot get locally: uncensored news, responsible discussion, and open debate.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG