MOSCOW — Nadiya Savchenko, the Ukrainian pilot held in a Moscow prison who says she was kidnapped by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, isn’t a prisoner of war or a hostage, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Savchenko, 33, who has been on hunger strike for two months and whose release is demanded by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, isn’t being held illegally, Peskov said Friday. Investigators are working on the case against her, he said.
Russia has charged her with complicity in the deaths of the two reporters. A Moscow court on Tuesday extended her pre-trial detention until May 13.
Savchenko’s fate has become tied to the push to end the conflict between the Ukrainian government and separatists. Poroshenko said Thursday that pact was reached on her release after talks in Belarus with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande. The Kremlin said Savchenko was not discussed “in essence” in Belarus, RIA Novosti reported Friday, citing Peskov.
Fifteen European Union ministers expressed solidarity Monday with Savchenko, who was elected to Ukraine’s parliament, by appearing in a photo with signs reading “We call the Russian authorities to free illegally abducted Ukrainian pilot.”
