Accessibility links

Breaking News

Ukraine Calls on Russia to Free Hunger-striking Helicopter Pilot


Hunger-striking Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko, accused of involvement in the killing of two Russian journalists in war-torn Ukraine, delivers her final statement to the court in the southern Russian town of Donetsk, on March 9, 2016.
Hunger-striking Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko, accused of involvement in the killing of two Russian journalists in war-torn Ukraine, delivers her final statement to the court in the southern Russian town of Donetsk, on March 9, 2016.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called on Russia to free a Ukrainian military helicopter pilot who is accused of killing two Russian journalists in a mortar attack.

Poroshenko posted video on social media Wednesday, calling the trial of Nadiya Savchenko, who has been refusing food and water since last week, a "farce" conducted in a "kangaroo court."

Savchenko's trial resumed on Wednesday in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, where the judge announced Savchenko will be sentenced on March 21-22.

Prosecutors have asked the court to sentence her to 23 years in prison.

Ukraine says Savchenko was kidnapped by the Russians and should be treated as a prisoner of war. Her case inspired some 2,000 Ukrainians to rally in her defense in Kyiv on Sunday.

On Tuesday, U.S. vice president Joe Biden issued a statement on her behalf, calling on Russia to release her immediately.

Savchenko on Wednesday echoed Poroshenko's words in court, calling the proceedings a farce and reminding officials, "we are playing with my life. The stakes are high and I have nothing to lose."

She punctuated her contemptuous words by raising her middle finger (in a vulgar gesture).

Savchenko is accused of aiding in a June 2014 mortar attack on Ukraine's Luhansk region, where a shell killed two Russian television reporters.

  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG