A Moscow court has ordered that Ukrainian helicopter pilot Nadiya Savchenko remain under arrest in until May 13, despite her fragile physical condition. On Feb. 25 the appeal court refused to release her pending trial. Savchenko is currently engaged on a hunger-strike that has lasted 76 days so far.
Savchenko is charged with coordinating the mortar fire that killed two Russian journalists in Ukraine’s east in summer of 2014. She denies any participation in it. In court documents published by one of Savchenko’s attorneys, Illya Novikov, Russian investigators claim they questioned 68,387 witnesses to her case and 17,792 people referred to as “casualties”.
The pilot has so far spent eight months in pre-trial custody in Russia, and went on hunger strike on Dec. 15 to protest her detention. Two months later, she still refuses to accept food but has received injections of glucose, amino acids, and medication to support her weakened digestive system.
On Feb. 25 Savchenko wasn’t brought to her appeal hearing – instead she stayed in jail and was video-conferencing. During the hearing the prisoner of war looked exhausted and had to lie down on a bench in a cell. Her Russian attorneys said that she won’t live till May 13 if she isn’t released.
Nadiya Savchenko lays down on a bench during a video conference with the court room on Feb. 25.
“She said very firmly that she wouldn’t stop the hunger strike until she is released,” Savchenko’s lawyer Illya Novikov told Hromadske.tv after the court hearing on Feb. 25.
The U.S. State Department called the court decision to leave Savchenko in prison “unacceptable.”
Savchenko, a helicopter pilot with Ukrainian army, was in Lugansk Oblast as a volunteer with the Aidar Battallion. She says she was helping to evacuate wounded soldiers when she was seized by separatists, who later hander her over to the Russian authorities.
Even though she was taken into Russia as a captive, she is also charged with illegally crossing the Russian border.
Savchenko has been receiving increasing support both internationally and in Russia. Russian writer and dissident Vladimir Voynovych addressed President Vladimir Putin with a public letter on Feb. 25, calling on Putin to “not disgrace Russia and himself with the death of this brave woman.”
