MOSCOW – The Russian Investigative Committee has changed the accusations regarding Ukrainian servicewoman Nadia Savchenko to graver ones – she is accused of killing two Russian reporters in Donbas, not conspiracy to commit this crime.
The Investigative Committee has completed the inquiry and sent the criminal case against Savchenko to prosecutor’s office to affirm the indictment and further transfer to court, Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.
Savchenko is accused of killing two or more persons, attempted murder in a publicly dangerous manner and unlawful crossing of the Russian border, Markin said.
In April 2014, Savchenko was accused of conspiracy to murder two or more persons, conspiracy to commit attempted murder in a publicly dangerous manner and illegal crossing of the Russian border.
The accusation was adjusted to a more serious one, Savchenko’s lawyer Ilya Novikov told Interfax. “Yes, indeed the accusation has been changed to a graver one. Investigators’ concept has changed,” he said.
At the same time, accusatory theory has not changed, so the actions Savchenko is accused of remain the same, the attorney said.
According to the inquiry, during the hostilities near Luhansk in June 2014, Savchenko, having learned the coordinates of a group of Russian VGTRK journalists and other civilians near Luhansk, passed them on to Ukrainian armed forces groups. An artillery strike, which killed Kornelyuk and Voloshin and could have injured other civilians nearby, was carried out against these coordinates.
Moscow said Savchenko allegedly crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border without papers and that’s why was detained.
