Nadiya Savchenko

Nadiya Savchenko
Надія Вікторівна Савченко
Personal details
Born Nadiya Viktorivna Savchenko
(1981-05-11) 11 May 1981
Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Political party Batkivshchyna[1]
Awards Hero of Ukraine
Order For Courage
Military service
Allegiance Ukraine Ukraine
Service/branch Ukrainian Armed Forces
Years of service 1997–2014
Rank First lieutenant
Unit 3rd Army Aviation Regiment, Brody, Lviv oblast
(2010-2014)
People's Deputy of Ukraine
8th convocation
27 November 2014[2] –
Elected as: Batkivshchyna[1], No.1[3]

Nadiya Viktorivna Savchenko (Ukrainian: Надія Вікторівна Савченко; born 11 May 1981) is a Ukrainian politician and former Army aviation pilot in the Ukrainian Ground Forces. She currently sits on the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe[4] in absentia due to being imprisoned in Russia since June 2014.

During the 2014 War in Donbass, Savchenko, a first lieutenant in the Ukrainian Ground Forces, served as instructor with a volunteer infantry unit, Aidar Battalion. In June, 2014 she was captured by pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine[5] and handed over to Russia, where she was accused of having directed artillery fire that killed two Russian state-television journalists at the positions of pro-Russian forces in Ukraine.[6]

She was subsequently charged and convicted of murder and illegally crossing Russian state border[7][8][9] despite being abducted from Ukrainian territory one hour before the deaths of the journalists.[10][11] One of her lawyers, Mark Feygin, says she is a prisoner-of-war and has called on the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations to demand her immediate release and that of the other Ukrainian POWs lest Russia be held in violation of the Geneva Conventions.[12][6] European Union ministers and their representative regard her detention as illegal and that her trial does not respect basic human rights, including the right to fair proceedings.[13]

In November 2014, while still imprisoned, Savchenko was elected to the Verkhovna Rada in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, and she formally resigned from her military post.[2][7][14]

Savchenko was one of Ukraine's first women to train as a military airplane pilot, and is the only female aviator to pilot the Sukhoi Su-24 bomber and the Mil Mi-24 helicopter.[15]

Life and military career

Nadiya Savchenko and her younger sister Vira were born in Kyiv. Their father was an agricultural engineer, their mother a designer and cargo manager.[16] Her sister Vira said in an interview that she and her sister were brought up in a Ukrainian-speaking household and attending Ukrainian-language schools.[16]

At 16, Savchenko was already determined to become a pilot. She joined the Ukrainian Army, working as a radio operator with the country's railway forces before training as a paratrooper.[16] She was then the only Ukrainian female soldier in the (2004–2008) Ukrainian peacekeeping troops in Iraq. Upon returning, she successfully petitioned the Defense Ministry for the right to attend the prestigious Air Force University in Kharkiv, which until then had been open only to men; she graduated in 2009.[17]

In 2010, she was posted to the 3rd Army Aviation Regiment in Brody, Lviv Oblast. In 2011, the Ukraine Defense Forces published a 20-minute documentary about Savchenko and her military career.[18] She also featured in a United Nations Development Program as part of a drive to promote equality in the Ukrainian military.[19] In 2014, she volunteered as an instructor in the Aidar Battalion.[20]

Capture by Donbass People's Militia

During the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine, Savchenko fought as a volunteer in the east of Ukraine in the Aidar Battalion.[8][9] On June 17, 2014, at 10:46 am[21] she was captured near the village of Metalist, Slovianoserbsk Raion, by members of the Donbass People's Militia, an armed pro-Russian militant group that declared allegiance to the self-declared People's Republic of Luhansk.[22] On June 19 a video of her interrogation at an undisclosed location appeared on the internet; she was shown handcuffed to a metal pipe.[8][9][23] On June 20, the chief of counterintelligence Vladimir Gromov said that Savchenko was being well treated. On June 22, there were media reports that Savchenko had been transferred to Donetsk.[24]

Detention and trial in Russia

On July 8, 2014, there were media reports that Nadiya Savchenko was being kept in a detention center in city of Voronezh, Russia. On July 9, Vladimir Markin, spokesman for Russia's Investigative Committee (a federal agency subordinate to the Russian President) confirmed that Savchenko was indeed held in Voronezh, where she is facing charges of complicity in the June 17 killing of two Russian journalists, Igor Vladimirovich Kornelyuk (a correspondent for All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company), and sound producer Anton Voloshin, who died during a mortar attack on a rebel checkpoint outside Luhansk.[25] Ukrainian officials said the reporters did not comply with safety requirements and were not accredited.[26] According to Savchenko's defence team, she is alibied by the billing data for Savchenko's and Kornelyuk's mobile phones, provided by Ukrainian Security Service, as she had already been captured by the Russian-backed separatists one hour before the mortar attack that killed Russian journalists.[27]

Since late 2015 Russia's Investigative Committee insisted she crossed the border voluntarily, without documents and in the guise of a refugee.[28] This contradicted previously published evidence and media reports: long before the alleged crossing, Russia's pro-Kremlin TV channel NTV reported that Savchenko had been captured by "rebels" and then handed over to the Russian authorities.[29] Ukrainian officials said she had been illegally taken to Russia by Russian intelligence services in collaboration with pro-Russian rebels.[30][31] In 2016 journalist Semen Zakruzhnyi followed the Investigative Committee's alleged route pointing out to numerous inconsistencies and concluding that neither Savchenko nor Russian investigators ever visited the places mentioned in the indictment.[32]

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strong protest against the illegal transfer of Savchenko to Russia, calling the kidnapping of the Ukrainian citizen an act of state terrorism.[33] On July 8, President Petro Poroshenko instructed the General Prosecutor of Ukraine to take all measures to bring about Savchenko's release.[34] In response, Vladimir Markin at Russia's Investigative Committee claimed that Savchenko was a terrorist and that the chances of her being released were on a par with those of Petro Poroshenko replacing Barack Obama as President of the United States.[35]

During her long trial in Russia, Savchenko has been held in a cage — which is standard practice[36] in Russia for defendants held without bail, despite the European Court of Human Rights ruling that defendants should never be held in a cage in the courtroom.[6] On July 10, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a website statement that her detention and trial is "A violation of all international agreements, all norms of law and is unacceptable."[26] President Poroshenko emphasized that "Nadiya Savchenko is a symbol of the struggle for Ukraine. While in captivity she has demonstrated the true, strong, martial Ukrainian spirit of a serviceman who doesn't betray the Motherland."[37] The President also said he had ordered a new lawyer for Savchenko.[26]

As of 11 July 2015, Savchenko's Russian defense lawyer is Mark Feygin, who is known for his defense of Pussy Riot.[38] On August 27, 2014 during a hearing at the Sovetsky district court of Voronezh, Savchenko appeared wearing a T-shirt with the Ukrainian state symbol (Tryzub) and spoke exclusively in the Ukrainian language.[39] She also stated that she had been detained in Russia since June 24, instead of June 30 as the Russian investigation reports.[39] Upon conclusion of the hearing the court extended Savchenko's detention for a further two months and ordered that she be sent for a month to the Serbsky Institute for a forensic psychological evaluation, which Savchenko opposed.[40]

On 22 December 2014 Moscow City Court upheld the decision to extend the arrest of Savchenko until the end of the investigation; the investigation was scheduled to be concluded by 13 February 2015.[14] Savchenko subsequently began a hunger strike.[41] The European Union and the United States have condemned Savchenko's detention and have called for her release.[42] Her lawyer, Mark Feygin, says she is a prisoner-of-war.[12]

Savchenko officially became a Ukrainian delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, or PACE, on 26 January 2015; thus on a legal level, she obtained parliamentary immunity in all PACE signatory states, including Russia, from that date. Despite this she was not released. Aleksey Pushkov of the Russian Duma stated that her appointment to PACE was an attack against Russia and that gaining diplomatic immunity does not absolve one from previous crimes. However, the Russian delegation to PACE allegedly struck a different tone, stating that it "fully supports the release of Nadia Savchenko."[43][44][45] PACE has declined to strip Savchenko of her parliamentary immunity, and instead has stated that Savchenko must be immediately released, finding her 2014 abduction and subsequent imprisonment to be "a violation of international law amounting to her de facto kidnapping".[46]

On March 2, 2015 President Petro Poroshenko awarded Savchenko with the title of Hero of Ukraine.[47]

On July 24, 2015 a spokesman for the Investigative Committee of Russia announced, contrary to the information of Savchenko's capture published earlier by Donetsk People's Republic,[5] that she voluntarily crossed the Russian border with intention of committing acts of sabotage and freely moved on the territory of Voronezh Oblast until 30 June when she was arrested.[48][49]

In February 2016 the US State department's spokesperson Jen Psaki voiced deep concern over the continued ill-treatment and deteriorating health of Savchenko, and called on Russia to honor its commitments under the September 2014 Minsk agreements and the February 15 implementation plan by immediately releasing Savchenko and other Ukrainian hostages.[50] Other urges to release her followed.[51] On 7 March 2016 US Secretary of State John Kerry protested about Savchenko's continued detention, specifically mentioning concerns about her interrogations, solitary confinement, and forced "psychiatric evaluation".[52]

In March 2016, Savchenko wrote: "It is an absurd situation when those who abduct people and subject them to torture then act as if they have a right to judge them! How can one talk about a fair trial? In Russia, there are no trials or investigations — only a farce played out by Kremlin puppets. [...] those in the world with democratic values ought to learn their history lessons before it's too late and remember that there was a time when Europe was tolerant toward Hitler, and America wasn’t decisive enough, and this led to World War II."[53]

On the 10 March 2016, while on a hunger strike, Nadiya Savchenko made a last statement to the court, which included the statement: "I admit no guilt and I recognize neither the court nor the verdict. If I am found guilty, I will not appeal. I want the entire democratic world to understand that Russia is a Third World country with a totalitarian regime and a petty tyrant for a dictator and it spits on international law and human rights."[6]

According to her lawyer Mark Feygin, "her case will certainly be decided in Kremlin by Putin and his associates".[27] On 21 March 2016, the court of Donetsk, Russia found Savchenko guilty of illegally crossing the Russian border and the murder of two Russian journalists.[54]

Political career (since 2014)

In the October 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Savchenko was placed first on the party list of Batkivshchyna.[55][1] In this same election her sister Vira Savchenko was also a candidate for Batkivshchyna in an electoral constituency in Yahotyn.[56][57] Nadiya Savchenko was elected as a deputy to the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament of Ukraine, as a result of the election.[58] Because of this Savchenko resigned from the Ukrainian army on 7 November 2014.[7] The Russian government has recognized the elections of Ukraine, meaning that the Russian Federation is currently holding a member of parliament from another nation under arrest.[59][60][7] Vira Savchenko finished third in her constituency with 7.02% of the votes (winner Serhiy Mishchenko won 40.41%) and was thus not elected.[57]

In late November 2014, Savchenko signed her parliamentary oath and passed it to Ukraine through her lawyer and was thus sworn in as People's Deputy of Ukraine (mp) on 27 November 2014.[2][61]

On 25 December 2014, Savchenko was included in Ukraine's quota for representatives in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; as noted above, legally this granted her parliamentary immunity in all PACE signatory nations, including Russia.[62]

On 6 November 2015 Savchenko's first draft law was introduced to parliament, while she was imprisoned in Russia.[63]

Public image

Savchenko's trial has caused a significant response inside Russia and internationally.[64][13][65][66][67]

Since news of her arrest was reported on 19 June, Savchenko has become the subject of an impassioned Ukrainian social media campaign portraying her as a national hero.[68] This social media campaign used the hashtag #SaveOurGirl (that mid-July 2014 had generated more than 15,000 tweets); apparently inspired by the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls used in the May 2014 Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping social media worldwide campaign.[68]

In Russia, Savchenko is portrayed extremely negatively in the media; according to BBC News "Crude, and at times sexist, innuendo is used to demonise Ms Savchenko".[68] Russian Daily Komsomolskaya Pravda alleges that Savchenko is known as a "killing machine in a skirt, and Tvoy Den called her "Satan's daughter".[68] Russian social media, however, tends to be more nuanced towards her with several anti-Kremlin users mocking perceived oddities in the Russian authorities' version of events, in particular their claim that she entered the country as a refugee.[68] In March 2016 Russian composer Vladimir Nazarov wrote in an open letter to Putin "not even in my worst nightmares could I have imagined that I would have to ask you not to kill a woman".[69] Also in March 2016 Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny stated about Savchenko's trail "However you look at it, this doesn't benefit Russia".[70] Navalny claimed that whoever planned to make Savchenko "a trophy prisoner" had miscalculated.[70] He described the trail as an "obvious stitch-up" you could "see the threads".[70]

See also

Other Ukrainians detained by Russia include:[67]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Electoral list of All-Ukrainian Union "Batkivshchyna" in 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election". Central Election Commission of Ukraine.
  2. 1 2 3 "CEC registers 357 newly elected deputies of 422". National Radio Company of Ukraine. 25 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "People's Deputy of Ukraine of the VIII convocation". Official portal (in Ukrainian). Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "PACE Member File: Nadiia SAVCHENKO". Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  5. 1 2 ""Открытая Россия" опубликовала видео задержания Савченко". TV Rain. September 29, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Gessen, Masha (10 March 2016). "Nadiya Savchenko Gives Russia the Finger". The New Yorker. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Ukraine pilot Savchenko files resignation from Ukraine army as elected deputy — lawyer". TASS. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 "Ukraine conflict: Russia charges pilot over deaths". BBC News. 9 July 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 "Russia Charges Ukrainian Pilot Savchenko Over Journalists' Deaths". NBC News. 9 July 2014.
  10. ↑ According to version by the prosecution, the rebels who captured Savchenko let her go and she crossed Russian border, "I have right for everything", by Novaya gazeta
  11. ↑ Azar, Iliya (21 March 2016). "«Я ее взял и лично передал Плотницкому»" (in Russian). Meduza.io. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  12. 1 2 Feygin, Mark (24 December 2014). "Russia's illegal prisoners of war". The Washington Post.
  13. 1 2 "Mogherini calls for immediate release of Nadiya Savchenko". European External Action Service. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  14. 1 2 "Moscow City Court upholds extension of Savchenko arrest". Interfax-Ukraine. 22 December 2014.
  15. ↑ Надежда Савченко [Nadezhda Savchenko] (in Russian). Grani.ru.
  16. 1 2 3 "Meet The Tough-As-Nails Ukrainian Pilot That Russia Wants To Try For Murder". Radio Free Europe. July 11, 2014.
  17. ↑ Надежда Савченко: "Умирать не страшно" [Nadezhda Savchenko: "I'm not afraid of death"]. Lvovskaya Pravda (in Russian). June 28, 2014.
  18. ↑ Военный летчик Надежда Савченко [Military pilot Nadiya Savchenko]. Військове телебачення України [Ukrainian Defence Forces Channel]. 5 July 2012.
  19. ↑ "Russia to Charge Ukrainian Woman 'Top Gun' Savchenko Over Deaths of Two Journalists". International Business Times. July 12, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Nadiya Savchenko is kept in Voronezh jail and only we can save her". SaveSavchenko.tsn.ua. July 11, 2014.
  21. ↑ "New evidence in Savchenko’s case proves her innocence, - lawyers". 112 Ukraine. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  22. ↑ Мать пилота Надежды Савченко: Моя дочь в плену, боюсь, ее держат на наркотиках! [Mother of pilot Nadezhda Savchenko]. Komsomoskaya Pravda (in Russian). July 1, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Captured Ukrainian Officer Nadiya Savchenko: "Your Russian authorities will kill me. All of Ukraine is behind me!"". Voices of Ukraine. June 20, 2014.
  24. ↑ Террористы готовы обменять героическую летчицу на 4-х боевиков [Terrorists ready to exchange heroic pilot for four militants]. tsn.ua (in Russian). June 22, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Ukrainian Officer Charged With Complicity In Killing Of Russian Journalists". Radio Free Europe. July 9, 2014.
  26. 1 2 3 "Russia Denies U.S.-Style Rendition of Ukrainian Pilot Vet". Bloomberg. July 10, 2014.
  27. 1 2 "Алиби Надежды Савченко". Radio Liberty. 17 December 2014.
  28. ↑ "Ukrainian charged with Russian journalists' deaths". Associated Press. 9 July 2014.
  29. ↑ Shishkin, Philip; Alpert, Lukas I. (July 10, 2014). "Ukraine Forces Take Another Rebel-Held Town". The Wall Street Journal.
  30. ↑ "President instructs to take immediate measures to return Nadiya Savchenko to Ukraine". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. 9 July 2014.
  31. ↑ Савченко похитили боевики в сговоре со спецслужбами РФ - МИД [Savchenko captured by militants with Russian special forces] (in Russian). liga.net. 9 July 2014.
  32. ↑ Zakruzhnyi, Semen (Закружный, Семён) (2 March 2016). "Как Надежда Савченко путешествовала по России. Репортаж Семёна Закружного". Open Russia (Открытая Россия) (in Russian). Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  33. ↑ "Ukraine's Foreign Ministry expressed strong protest against transfer of Nadiya Savchenko to Russia". inforesist.org. 8 July 2014.
  34. ↑ РОЗПОРЯДЖЕННЯ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ № 951/2014-рп : Про невідкладні заходи щодо повернення в Україну громадянки України Надії Савченко [Regarding Ukrainian national Nadiya Savchenko] (in Ukrainian). Presidential administration of Ukraine. July 8, 2014.
  35. ↑ "В России по-хамски объяснили, когда освободят летчицу Надежду Савченкo" [In Russia]. TCH.ua (in Russian). July 11, 2014.
  36. ↑ Herszenhorn, David M. (18 November 2013). "Presumed Innocent, but Caged in Court". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  37. ↑ "President does everything to liberate pilot Nadiya Savchenko from Russian captivity". Press office of President. July 10, 2014. Archived from the original on March 18, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  38. ↑ "Захисник "Pussy Riot" став адвокатом льотчиці Наді" [Defender of "Pussy Riot takes on Nadiya Savchenko case]. Ukrayinska Pravda (in Ukrainian). 11 July 2014.
  39. 1 2 "Savchenko in court: We already do not have Yanukovych, you soon won't have Putin". Ukrayinska Pravda. August 27, 2014.
  40. ↑ "For Savchenko the arrest was extended and she was placed in the Institute of court psychiatry". Ukrayinska Pravda. August 27, 2014.
  41. ↑ Oliphant, Roland (11 January 2015). "Nadia Savchenko: The most controversial prisoner of the war in Ukraine". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  42. ↑ "US calls on Russia to immediately release detained Ukrainian citizens Savchenko and Sentsov". Interfax Ukraine. 18 October 2014.
  43. ↑ "Россия не собирается освобождать Савченко и регламент ПАСЕ ей не указ". Unian.
  44. ↑ "Российская делегация в ПАСЕ в корне поменяла позицию по Савченко". Liga.
  45. ↑ PACE Grants Savchenko Immunity, Demands Her Release From Russian Jail, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (26 January 2015)
    "Nadia Savchenko to obtain diplomatic immunity on January 26, Russia will have to let her go". Interfax Ukraine.
  46. ↑ http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=21538&lang=en
  47. ↑ "Порошенко присвоил Савченко звание Героя Украины". Korrespondent.net. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  48. ↑ "Russian migration service destroys Savchenko’s abduction theory — Markin". tass.ru. 24 July 2015.
  49. ↑ "Александр Бастрыкин: Яценюк воевал против российской армии в Чечне". Российская газета. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  50. ↑ "Continued Detention of Nadiya Savchenko" (Press release). United States Department of State. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  51. ↑ "Адвокат Савченко озвучил беспрецедентный ультиматум Госдепа США к властям РФ" [Savchenko's lawyer announces an unprecedented ultimatum from the US State Department to the authorities of the Russian Federation]. Політолог (politolog) (in Russian). 6 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  52. ↑ "Continued Detention of Nadiya Savchenko" (Press release). United States Department of State. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  53. ↑ "'I Will Return To Ukraine, Dead Or Alive' — Savchenko's Unspoken Last Words In Russian Court". Radio Free Europe. March 4, 2016.
  54. ↑ http://tass.ru/en/world/863897
  55. ↑ "Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna: Two women at top will propel party into parliament". Kyiv Post. October 13, 2014.
  56. ↑ "Sister of captured war hero enters politics". Kyiv Post. October 8, 2014.
  57. 1 2 "Candidates and winner for the seat of constituency 98 in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election". RBK Ukraine.
  58. ↑ "CEC registers pilot Savchenko as MP". Interfax-Ukraine. 19 November 2014.
  59. ↑ Список депутатов, проходящих в Раду по спискам и мажоритарке, - предварительные данные [List of deputies elected to the Rada] (in Russian). 112.ua. 29 October 2014.
  60. ↑ "Russia reluctantly recognizes Ukraine's elections". Radio Vaticana. 28 October 2014.
  61. ↑ Савченко Надія Вікторівна [Nadiya Viktorivna Savchenko] (in Ukrainian). Verkhovna Rada. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  62. ↑ Verkhovna Rada includes pilot Savchenko in PACE delegation, Interfax-Ukraine (25 December 2014)
  63. ↑ Savchenko first co-author of the bill introduced by the Council, Ukrayinska Pravda (6 November 2015)
  64. ↑ Кашин, Олег (8 March 2016). "Комментарий: Надежда Савченко - из украинского героя в российский символ". DW (in Russian). Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  65. ↑ "Free Savchenko: Open letter to European leaders". freesavchenko. tilda.ws. Tilda. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  66. ↑ Rettman, Andrew (14 March 2016). "EU ministers to speak out on Ukrainian pilot". EUuobserver (Brussells). Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  67. 1 2 "Nadiya Savchenko and Other Ukrainians Held in Russia | OSCE - United States Mission". osce.usmission.gov. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  68. 1 2 3 4 5 "Ukraine woman pilot Savchenko in middle of media war". BBC News. 11 July 2014.
  69. ↑ "«В страшном кошмаре не мог представить, что буду просить вас не убивать женщину»". tvrain.ru. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  70. 1 2 3 "Savchenko case: Will Kremlin release Ukraine pilot?". BBC News. 24 March 2016.
  71. ↑ "Russia torments Ukrainian political prisoner in open court :: khpg.org". khpg.org. Retrieved 2016-03-19.

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