Poroshenko has called for the release of Savchenko, other prisoners:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has demanded the immediate release of all Ukrainian prisoners captured during the conflict with pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, inlcuding pilot Nadia Savchenko, who has been on a hunger strike in a Russian jail since December 15.
Poroshenko, speaking on January 21 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said the prisoners were "hostages who are illegally held in the occupied territories and in Russian prisons."
Earlier on January 21, the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) asked the Kremlin-allied speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament to help secure Savchenko's urgent release.
PACE President Anne Brasseur also expressed concern over the health of Savchenko. Brasseur made the appeal in a letter to State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin, the assembly said in a statement on January 21.
It said Savchenko, who was elected to the Ukranian parliament in October 2014, should be released to enable her to attend the opening of a PACE session in Strasbourg on January 26.
Russia has charged Savchenko with involvement in the deaths of two Russian journalists killed in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Here is a wrap from our news desk on Poroshenko's remarks, which we mentioned earlier:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has accused Russia of sending more than 9,000 troops into Ukrainian territory.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 21, Poroshenko demanded that Russia immediately implement all of its obligations under the Minsk peace plan, close Russia’s border with Ukraine, "and withdraw all the foreign troops from my territory."
Poroshenko said Russia now has "more than 9,000 troops in my territory" including about "500 tanks, heavy artillery and armored personnel carriers."
Earlier, Poroshenko said in an interview that Russia had sent additional Russian troops, tanks, and armored personnel carriers into Ukrainian territory in recent days.
He said the Russian military deployments are clearly a form of aggression.
Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has dismissed those allegations as baseless.
Poroshenko's statements came ahead of a meeting in Berlin of the foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany to discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine.