For Russian President Vladimir Putin, pardoning and releasing Savchenko means a breach in his self-promoted image as a victorious ruler – a czar who doesn’t give a damn about neighbors, Western countries or even human life.
Russia suffered a big reputational loss in the Savchenko affair, underscoring how ruthless the Kremlin has been since 2014 in violating Ukraine’s sovereignty, killing 10,000 people in its war and kidnapping Ukrainian citizens for imprisonment.
The stark contrast between the gleeful public welcoming of Savchenko in Kyiv and the secretive arrival to Moscow of two Russian intelligence officers, exchanged for the Ukrainian pilot, says it all. The officers arrived in an empty airport, greeted only by their wives. The state-controlled press that were there weren’t allowed to ask any questions, and the return of the two soldiers got barely a mention in Russia’s Kremlin-controlled media.
It is doubtful that Putin released Savchenko for humanitarian reasons alone.
While in a Russian prison on trumped-up murder charges, Ukrainian leaders reaped the international PR bonanza that exposed Putin for the dictatorial tyrant that he is and allowed politicians to capitalize on her hero status.
But now free, Savchenko is likely to turn her righteous anger and indomitable will on the corrupt politicians in Ukraine. They don’t stand a chance against her. She is already a lawmaker, elected in absentia, so has a built-in pubic platform and lots of goodwill.
When Savchenko upon arrival on May 25 said she was going to the Presidential Administration, a supporter shouted from the crowd: “So maybe stay there? As our president?”
She didn’t brush off the suggestion. We hope she takes aim at Ukraine’s enemies, both internal and external. If she does so, she will find many allies.
