Jailed Ukrainian freed in prisoner swap

Russia has freed jailed Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who became a symbol of resistance against Moscow.

“I am free,” Savchenko told a crowd of reporters and politicians as she arrived in Kiev as part of a prisoner swap with two alleged Russian agents.

She was sentenced to 22 years in jail for killing two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine, charges she denied.

The two Russians – Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov – were earlier flown from Kiev to Moscow.

Savchenko was pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin before her return to Ukraine.

Mr Putin said he had acted after meeting relatives of the two Russian journalists, who had asked him to show mercy to Savchenko.

In Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko pardoned the two Russian nationals.

In a tweet (in Ukrainian) earlier on Wednesday, Mr Poroshenko wrote: “The presidential plane with Hero of Ukraine Nadiya Savchenko has landed!”

Speaking to reporters at Kiev’s Boryspil airport, Savchenko was in defiant mood.

“I am ready to once again give my life for Ukraine on the battlefield,” she said.

Savchenko was captured in 2014, as pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions battled government forces.

She was charged with directing artillery fire that killed the two journalists, but she says she was kidnapped prior to the attack and handed over the border to the Russian authorities.

Her time in jail saw her mount a hunger strike and she was even elected in absentia to Ukraine’s parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

‘Jaws of Mordor’

Speaking to reporters at Kiev’s Boryspil airport, Savchenko was in defiant mood.

“I am ready to once again give my life for Ukraine on the battlefield,” she said.

Savchenko was captured in 2014, as pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions battled government forces.

She was charged with directing artillery fire that killed the two journalists, but she says she was kidnapped prior to the attack and handed over the border to the Russian authorities.

Her time in jail saw her mount a hunger strike and she was even elected in absentia to Ukraine’s parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

‘Jaws of Mordor’

The two pardoned Russian nationals flew to Moscow’s Vnukovo airport on a specially chartered plane.

They were met by their wives, as well as media representatives.

Ukraine said the pair were elite members of Russian military intelligence – but Russia insisted they were not on active duty when they were captured in eastern Ukraine.

They were sentenced to 14 years in jail last month after being found guilty of waging an “aggressive war” against Ukraine, committing a terrorist act and using weapons to provoke an armed conflict.

Ukraine and the West have repeatedly called for Savchenko’s release and a prisoner swap has long been considered likely.

“It’s been a long and complicated road,” one of her lawyers, Nikolai Polozov, told AFP.

“But we have been able to prove that there are no insurmountable tasks and we’ve managed to free the hostage from the jaws of Mordor,” he added, referring to the land controlled by the main antagonist in the Lord of the Rings saga.

Savchenko’s capture contributed to the deterioration in Russia-Ukraine relations since 2014.

Moscow annexed the Crimea peninsula in March 2014 after an unrecognised referendum on self-determination, and is accused of sending weapons and its regular troops to support the separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow denies this, but admits that Russian “volunteers” are fighting with the rebels.

BBC