The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine has been trying to establish a dialogue with the prosecutor general of the Russian Federation over Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko, who has been kidnapped in Luhansk region and ended up in a detention center in Voronezh, but to no avail.
“I write letters concerning our pilot Savchenko to Russian Prosecutor General [Yury] Chaika. But there is no answer. Hopefully, this matter of lack of communication will be resolved, and we will have normal cooperation,” Prosecutor General of Ukraine Vitaliy Yarema said at a briefing on Saturday.
Savchenko, 31, fought in eastern Ukraine in the ranks of the Aidar volunteer battalion and in June was taken prisoner by Russian-sponsored insurgents near the town of Schastia in Luhansk region.
She resurfaced on July 8 – reports said she was currently in a detention center in Voronezh.
The Russian Investigative Committee claims that she crossed the border into Russia without any identification papers and masquerading as a Ukrainian refugee, and that officials who stopped her in a Russian village for an identity inspection identified her as a suspect in the killing of Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin, reporters for Russian radio and television company VGTRK.
The Voronezh Regional Court ordered her to remain in custody until August 30.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has instructed the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Security Service to look into the circumstances of Savchenko’s transfer to Russian territory. Poroshenko also instructed the Foreign Ministry and other government agencies to take every possible measure to secure the Ukrainian pilot’s unconditional release by Russia and her return home.
Ukraine’s consul ultimately met with Savchenko after a long period during which she was denied any visits from defense lawyers and the consul. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that the pilot confirmed during the conversation with the consul that she had been transferred to Russia illegally and forcibly (handcuffed and blindfolded).
Her Russian defense lawyer Mark Feigin said Savchenko did not take direct part in the hostilities in Donbas.
