Russian authorities cite the need for careful adherence to the law in a case in which the defendant, an active-duty foreign servicewoman, was reportedly abducted at gunpoint by client insurrectionists, mistreated, smuggled illegally across an international border to be handed over to a foreign government, and denied counsel and consular access, before being put on trial under Russian law for an alleged offense on foreign soil.
From Interfax:
The Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko is to undergo a psychiatric examination as part of a criminal inquiry into the killing of Russian journalists, Russian Investigative Committee (RIC) spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax, when asked to comment on such reports.
"Savchenko who is charged under Article 105 (murder) of the Russian Criminal Code is to undergo a psychiatric examination as part of the criminal inquiry. This is a standard procedure and mandatory requirement of Russian criminal proceedings legislation (Article 196 of the Russian Criminal Proceedings Code) in cases where a person is charged with a very serious crime," Markin said.
"Savchenko and her defense lawyer have been duly informed of the order to undergo an in-hospital psychiatric examination that will be conducted in Moscow," the RIC spokesman said.
EuroMaidanPR citing the latest military status report from pro-Kyiv blogger Dmitry Tymchuk:
A lawyer for Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko says Russian authorities holding her in pretrial detention have moved her from her "Voronezh-3" prison in Rostov, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.
The lawyer, Mark Feygin, says she was moved on Monday but that her relocation became known only this morning:
A later tweet said stationery suggested she'd been taken to the "'Lefortovo,' or 'Printers' (female No. 6)" prison:
Senior Lieutenant Savchenko, 33, has been indicted in Russia for her alleged complicity in the killing of two Russian journalists on June 17 near Luhansk during the Ukrainian Army's offensive against the rebels.
Ukrainian Consul Hennadiy Breskalenko was allowed to meet with Savchenko for the first time on July 16 at the detention center, in the southwestern Russian city of Voronezh.
She told Breskalenko that she'd been captured near Luhansk by pro-Russian separatists and smuggled -- handcuffed and with a sack over her head -- across the border and handed over to Russian authorities.
From our newsroom:
The mayor office in eastern Ukraine's rebel-held city of Donetsk says a cease-fire between pro-Russian separatists and government forces has been violated in the city, which is the pro-Russian militants' main stronghold.
The mayor's office reported two attacks, one late on September 23 and another in the early hours of September 24. In one of them, a mortar shell hit an apartment block.
The RIA Novosti news agency quoted the rebels as saying that two people died in the attack but the mayor's office had no information about casualties.
The cease-fire between the rebels and Ukrainian troops has largely held since both parties agreed to it on September 5.
At talks last weekend, both sides agreed to pull back heavy artillery, setting up a buffer zone. Rebels said September 24 they were implementing this agreement as well as the Ukrainians.
Based on reporting by AP and Interfax
BuzzFeed identifies a D.C. lobbying firm, BGR, that "multiple sources" say is "working with the new Ukrainian government." It is unclear whether the sides have a contract.
Individuals from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's office and BGR did not respond to requests for comment, BuzzFeed says:
BGR would be the first Western firm to work with Poroshenko on his outreach in the West post-Maidan revolution and in the midst of the slow-motion Russian invasion. The Russians, on the other hand, have a robust lobbying presence in the West and have employed major firms like Ketchum and GPlus for some time. The Ukrainians need the help; they have been asking the West to help them fight the Russians for months, and have also been pushing for heavier sanctions. Poroshenko recently came to Washington and addressed Congress, where he gave a speech heavy on American-friendly themes like Israel, Abraham Lincoln, and JFK. Meanwhile, the Obama administration has resisted providing military support to the Ukrainians in favor of a series of sanctions that have not appeared to slow Russian advances.
The Ukrainians are being advised in a different way by the Open Society Foundations, billionaire George Soros’ worldwide grant-making organization. The organization runs a branch called the International Renaissance Foundation in Kiev, which was founded after the fall of the Soviet Union, and is planning to build three branch offices elsewhere in Ukraine, according to Leonard Benardo, the Open Society Foundations’ regional director for Eurasia.