President Vladimir Putin has pardoned Nadezhda Savchenko, the Ukrainian pilot who was given 22 years in jail for her part in the killing of two Russian journalists. Savchenko arrived by plane in Kiev on Wednesday, while two Russian nationals jailed by Kiev have returned to Russia.
READ MORE: Ukrainian pilot Savchenko pardoned by Putin, swapped for 2 Russians
25 May 2016
A top European human rights official has welcomed the release of Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko by Russia and said he hopes it will lead “to more good things.”
Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland described Savchenko's release after two years in captivity as “a very good development,” noting she is also a member of the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly.
Jagland made the comment to The Associated Press during a visit to Athens, saying he had asked for Savchenko's release “for a very long time.”
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Ukraine would win back control of eastern territories and Crimea, just as it has secured the release of pilot Nadiya Savchenko from Russian prison.
"Just as we brought back Nadiya, so we will bring back the (eastern) Donbass and bring back Crimea," he said at a briefing following Savchenko's return to Kiev from Russia.
Kiev has thanked the relatives of the dead Russian journalists for asking Vladimir Putin to pardon the jailed Ukrainian pilot, Nadezhda Savchenko.
“They have found courage, generosity, and an understanding of what the fate of Savchenko, who was given a long prison sentence by a Russian court, means today. They [the relatives] have turned to Russian President Vladimir Putin, with a request for pardon,” Viktor Medvedchuk, Kiev's special envoy for humanitarian issues, told Russia-24 TV channel.
“This is a courageous civil gesture,” he added.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree to pardon Russian citizens Evgeny Erofeev and Aleksandr Aleksandrov.
Ukrainian servicewoman Nadiya Savchenko vowed on Wednesday to fight for the release of other Ukrainians in Russian custody following her arrival in Kiev from Russia as a result of a prisoner exchange.
"I will do everything possible in order that every person sitting in captivity be free," she told a scrum of journalists at Kiev's Boryspol airport.
President Vladimir Putin told the Russian journalists' relatives that his decision to pardon Savchenko was first and foremost motivated by “humanitarian considerations.”
“I want to thank you for your position and express hope that such a decision, motivated by humanitarian considerations in the first place, will lead to a de-escalation of the confrontation in a certain conflict zone and will help to avoid similar terrible and needless losses. Thank you very much,” Putin told the relatives of the dead journalists.
An aircraft with Russian citizens Evgeny Erofeev and Aleksandr Aleksandrov, who were swapped for Ukraine’s Nadezhda Savchenko, has landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport.
A plane transporting detained Ukrainian servicewoman Nadiya Savchenko from Russia to Ukraine has lan
A plane transporting detained Ukrainian servicewoman Nadiya Savchenko from Russia to Ukraine has landed in Kiev, President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday.
"A presidential plane with Ukraine's hero Nadiya Savchenko has landed," he said on Twitter.
Putin pardons Ukraine pilot Savchenko - Kremlin
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has arrived at Borispol Airport, broadcaster 112 Ukraine reports.
Nadezhda Savchenko's sister, Vera, and their mother, Maria Savchenko.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is set to make a statement at 3:15pm local time (12:15 GMT), his spokesman has stated.
The plane reportedly carrying Nadezhda Savchenko has left Rostov-on-Don Airport and is heading to Borispil, northern Ukraine, Ukrainian news website tsnua reported, citing sources at the VIP terminal of the airport.
A Reuters source close to the deal said that Savchenko is on board the plane that is returning to Ukraine from Russia. "They are coming back," the source said, confirming that Savchenko was on the plane.
Two Russian citizens – Evgeny Erofeev and Aleksandr Aleksandrov – were sentenced in Ukraine in April to 14 years each in prison after a district court in Kiev found them guilty of terrorist activities. Both Erofeev and Aleksandrov, whom Kiev says are Russian military servicemen, maintain their innocence.
Aleksandrov’s father, Anatoly, told RT that he wasn’t informed about the swap and doesn’t communicate with the lawyers.
“I’ll believe it, when I see [my son]” he told RT. “We only wait, hope and believe…we've got no other options,” Aleksandrov Senior said.