Military pilot Nadiya Savchenko, sentenced in Russia on bogus murder charges, returns to Ukraine after spending almost two years in captivity. Savchenko was exchanged on May 25 for two Russian Military Intelligence officers Alexandr Alexandrov and Evgeny Yerofeyev who were captured and sentenced in Ukraine on terrorism charges.
After arriving in Kyiv Boryspil airport at 3 p.m., Savchenko was scheduled to go straight to the Presidental Administration for a joint press conference with President Petro Poroshenko. Instead, Savchenko, whose nome-de-guerre was Pulya (Bullet), made a surprise appearance and talked to the press in the Airport.
Savchenko took of her shoes “to feel the soil of homeland.” She gave an emotional speech in shouting and commanding voice. She said that the times are coming when only strong and reliable people will rule Ukraine.
“The nation is a strong force. The essence of the democracy is for the nation to talk and to make (the authorities) hear it,” she shouted in the TV cameras. “We will be heard, as we are Ukrainians, and we’ve given our lives to be heard.”
Savchenko then went to the Presidential Administration, where she received the Hero of Ukraine award from Poroshenko.
“I don’t want people to wish for war, I want them to wish for peace. But sometimes peace is possible only through war,” Savchenko said.
