Nadiya Savchenko | |
|---|---|
Надія Савченко | |
.jpg) Savchenko in Warsaw, Poland, May 2017 | |
| People's Deputy of Ukraine | |
| 8th convocation | |
| In office 27 November 2014 – 24 July 2019 | |
| Constituency | Batkivshchyna, No.1[1][2] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Nadiya Viktorivna Savchenko (1981-05-11)11 May 1981 (age 44) |
| Political party | Social and Political Platform of Nadiya Savchenko (since 2017)[3] |
| Other political affiliations | Batkivshchyna (2014–2016)[4][2] |
| Awards |  Hero of Ukraine[5][6] Order For Courage Petro Kalnyshevsky Cross "For Dignity in Captivity"[7] |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Ukraine |
| Branch/service |  Ukrainian Armed Forces |
| Years of service | 1997–2014 |
| Rank | First lieutenant |
| Unit | 3rd Army Aviation Regiment,Brody,Lviv oblast (2010–2014) |
Nadiya Viktorivna Savchenko (Ukrainian:Надія Вікторівна Савченко; born 11 May 1981) is a Ukrainian politician, formerArmy aviation pilot in theArmed Forces of Ukraine, and formerPeople's Deputy of Ukraine.[8]
During the 2014War in Donbas, Savchenko was afirst lieutenant in the Ukrainian Ground Forces and served as instructor with a volunteer infantry unit, theAidar Battalion. In June 2014, she was captured by pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine[9] and handed over to Russia where she was accused of having directed artillery fire thatkilled two Russian state-television journalists in Ukraine.[10]
She was subsequently charged and convicted of murder and illegally crossing the Russian state border,[11][12][13] despite beingabducted from Ukrainian territory one hour before the deaths of the journalists.[14][15] One of her lawyers,Mark Feygin, said she was aprisoner-of-war and called on theInternational Committee of the Red Cross and theUnited Nations to demand her immediate release as well as the release of other UkrainianPOWs lest Russia be held in violation of theGeneva Conventions.[16][10] European Union ministers and their representative regarded her detention as illegal and that her trial did not respect basichuman rights, including the right tofair proceedings.[17]
In November 2014, while still imprisoned, Savchenko was elected to theVerkhovna Rada in the2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, and she formally resigned from her military post.[18][11][19] On 25 May 2016, Savchencko was exchanged in a prisoner swap for RussianGRU officers[20] Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov captured by Ukraine.[21]
After returning to Ukraine, Savchenko declared her intention to participate as a presidential candidate in the2019 Ukrainian presidential election.[22] However, she was arrested on 22 March 2018, charged with planning a terrorist attack to overthrow the Ukrainian government.[23][24] She was released from detention on 15 April 2019.[25]
Savchenko was one of Ukraine's first women to train as a military airplane pilot, and is the only female aviator to pilot theSukhoi Su-24 bomber and theMil Mi-24 helicopter.[26]
Nadiya Savchenko and her younger sister Vira were born inKyiv in theTroieshchyna neighbourhood.[8] Their father was an agricultural engineer, their mother a designer and cargo manager.[27] Savchenko's father was a member of theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union while her mother was ananti-communist.[8] Her mother and sister Vira said in an interview that she and her sister were brought up in a Ukrainian-speaking household and attended Ukrainian-language schools.[27][8]
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.[27] At the time she was the only female Ukrainiansoldier inIraq as part of the (2004–2008)Ukrainian peacekeeping troops. Upon returning to Ukraine, she successfully petitioned theDefence Ministry for the right to attend the prestigious Air Force University inKharkiv, which until then had been open only to men; she was expelled twice during her study there as an unsuitable candidate to train as a pilot but both times was successfully re-instated and continued to train as a flight navigator instead, initially as a SU-24 navigator. In 2009, she graduated on a Mi-24 attack helicopter and served in the 3rd Regiment of the Army Aviation of theArmed Forces of Ukraine in the city of Brody. She amassed 170 flying hours as a Mi-24 navigator.[28][8]
In 2011, the Ukraine Defence Forces published a 20-minute documentary about Savchenko and her military career.[29] She also featured in aUnited Nations Development Program as part of a drive to promote equality in the Ukrainian military.[30] Savchenko found her time in Brody boring and often got drunk.[8] She was unhappy flying on theMi-24 attack helicopter, instead of the Su-24 bomber.[8] Her former commanding officer at Brody, Edward Zahurskiy, described her as a problem officer, who was unstable, insubordinate, and lacked discipline.[8]
In December 2013, Savchenko's 3rd Army Aviation Regiment was ordered toKyiv by PresidentViktor Yanukovych.[8] Savchenko then (without permission from her commanding officer) joined theEuromaidan demonstrations.[8] Savchenko kept a low profile during the protests; there is a video of her trying to persuade demonstrators not to throw petrol bombs at riot police.[8] Afterthe president had fled Ukraine in late February 2014, Savchenko and her unit returned to Brody.[8]
Angry over her unit not being deployed in thewar in Donbas, Savchenko defied orders and left Brody, and she volunteered as an instructor in theAidar Battalion.[31][8]
During the war in Donbas, Savchenko fought as a volunteer in the east of Ukraine in theAidar Battalion.[12][13] On 17 June 2014, at 10:46 am she was captured near the village ofMetalist,Slovianoserbsk Raion, by members of theZarya Battalion, an armed pro-Russian militant group that declared allegiance to the self-declaredPeople's Republic of Luhansk.[32] On 19 June, a video of her interrogation at an undisclosed location appeared on the internet; she was shown handcuffed to a metal pipe.[12][13][33] On 20 June, the chief of counter-intelligence Vladimir Gromov said that Savchenko was being treated well. On 22 June, there were media reports that Savchenko had been transferred toDonetsk.[34]
On 8 July 2014, there were media reports that Nadiya Savchenko was being kept in a detention centre in city ofVoronezh in theRussian Federation. On 9 July,Vladimir Markin, spokesman forRussia's Investigative Committee (a federal agency subordinate to the Russian President), confirmed that Savchenko was indeed being held in Voronezh where she was facing charges of complicity in the 17 June killing of two Russian journalists,Igor Kornelyuk (a correspondent forAll-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company), and sound producerAnton Voloshin, who died during a mortar attack on a rebel checkpoint outside Luhansk.[35] Ukrainian officials said the reporters did not comply with safety requirements and were not accredited.[36] According to Savchenko's defence team, she had an alibi from the billing data from Savchenko's and Kornelyuk's mobile phones, provided byUkrainian Security Service, as she had already been captured by the Russian-backed separatists one hour before the mortar attack that killed the Russian journalists.[37]
Since late 2015, Russia's Investigative Committee insisted she crossed the border voluntarily without documents, and in the guise of a refugee.[38] 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.[39] Ukrainian officials said she had been illegally taken to Russia by Russian intelligence services in collaboration with pro-Russian rebels.[40][41] 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.[42]
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.[43] On 8 July, PresidentPetro Poroshenko instructed theGeneral Prosecutor of Ukraine to take all measures to bring about Savchenko's release.[44] 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 replacingBarack Obama as President of the United States.[45]
During her long trial in Russia, Savchenko was held in a cage in the court—which is standard practice in Russia for defendants held without bail,[46] despite theEuropean Court of Human Rights ruling that defendants should never be held in a cage in the courtroom.[10]
On 10 July, 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."[36] 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."[47] The President also said he had ordered a new lawyer for Savchenko.[36]
As of 11 July 2015, Savchenko's Russian defence lawyer wasMark Feygin, who is known for his defence ofPussy Riot.[48] On 27 August 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 theUkrainian language.[49] She also stated that she had been detained in Russia since 24 June, not 30 June as the Russian investigation reported.[49] At the 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 theSerbsky Institute for a forensic psychological evaluation, which Savchenko opposed.[50]
On 22 December 2014,Moscow City Court upheld the decision to extend the arrest of Savchenko until the end of the investigation, which was scheduled to be concluded by 13 February 2015.[19] Savchenko subsequently began ahunger strike.[51] TheEuropean Union and theUnited States condemned Savchenko's detention and called for her release.[52] Her lawyer, Mark Feygin, said she was aprisoner-of-war.[16]
Savchenko officially became a Ukrainian delegate to theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, or PACE, on 26 January 2015; thus on a legal level, she obtainedparliamentary 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 struck a different tone, stating that it "fully supports the release of Nadia Savchenko."[53][54][55] PACE declined to strip Savchenko of her parliamentary immunity, and instead 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".[56]
On 2 March 2015, President Petro Poroshenko awarded Savchenko with the title ofHero of Ukraine.[5]
On 24 July 2015, a spokesman for theInvestigative Committee of Russia, contrary to the information of Savchenko's capture published earlier byDonetsk People's Republic,[9] stated that she voluntarily crossed the Russian border with intention of committing acts of sabotage and freely moved on the territory ofVoronezh Oblast until 30 June when she was arrested.[57][58]
In February 2016, theUS State department's spokespersonJen Psaki voiced deep concern over the continued ill-treatment and deteriorating health of Savchenko, and called on Russia to honour its commitments under the September 2014Minsk agreements, and the 15 February implementation plan by immediately releasing Savchenko and other Ukrainian hostages.[59] Other urges to release her followed.[60]
On 7 March 2016, US Secretary of StateJohn Kerry protested Savchenko's continued detention, specifically mentioning concerns about her interrogations, solitary confinement, and forced "psychiatric evaluation".[61]
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."[62]
On 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."[10]
According to her lawyerMark Feygin, "her case will certainly be decided in Kremlin byPutin and his associates".[37] On 21 March 2016, the court ofDonetsk, Russia found Savchenko guilty of illegally crossing the Russian border and the murder of two Russian journalists.[63]
Savchenko was freed in a prisoner swap on 25 May 2016[21] for two Russian servicemen.[6][64][65] She was released from custody inRostov-on-Don and immediately on a presidential flight brought toBoryspil.[6] Technically, she was granted a pardon by president Vladimir Putin.[66] Immediately in theBoryspil International Airport she was awarded the Golden Star and received an honorary title ofHero of Ukraine.[6]
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Savchenko's trial caused a significant response inside Ukraine, Russia and internationally.[67][17][68][69][70]
After news of her arrest was reported on 19 June, Savchenko became the subject of an impassioned Ukrainiansocial media campaign portraying her as anational hero.[71] This social media campaign used thehashtag #SaveOurGirl (that mid-July 2014 had generated more than 15,000tweets); apparently inspired by the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls used in the May 2014Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping social media worldwide campaign.[71]
According toBBC News, Savchenko is portrayed extremely negatively in themedia of Russia: "Crude, and at times sexist, innuendo is used to demonize Ms Savchenko".[71] The Russian dailyKomsomolskaya Pravda said that Savchenko is known as a "killing machine in a skirt", andTvoy Den called her "Satan's daughter".[71] 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.[71] In March 2016, Russian composerVladimir Nazarov wrote in an open letter to Putin saying that "not even in my worst nightmare could I have imagined that I would have to ask you not to kill a woman."[72] In March 2016, Russian opposition politicianAlexei Navalny stated about Savchenko's trial, "However you look at it, this doesn't benefit Russia".[73] Navalny said that whoever planned to make Savchenko "a trophy prisoner" had miscalculated.[73] He described the trial as such an "obvious stitch-up" you could "see the threads".[73]
When Savchencko was released from Russian prison in May 2016,opinion polls for the Ukrainian presidential election showed 15% would vote for her; by early 2017, this number was below 5%.[74]
In 2015 the city ofVatutine renamedLenin Square to Nadiya Savchenko Square.[75] The village ofPerekorintsi [wikidata] had a Nadiya Savchenko street, until April 2024, when this street was renamed toObolon street.[75]
In the October2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Savchenko was placed first on the party list ofBatkivshchyna.[76][2] (In a June 2016 interview withRadio Free Europe, she stated that the party wasn't her first choice, but it "isn't the worst").[8] In this same election, her sister Vira Savchenko was also a candidate for Batkivshchyna in anelectoral constituency inYahotyn.[77][78] Nadiya Savchenko won and was elected as a deputy to theVerkhovna Rada, the parliament of Ukraine.[79] Because of this Savchenko resigned from the Ukrainian army on 7 November 2014.[11] The Russian government recognized the election in Ukraine, meaning that the Russian Federation was holding a member of parliament from another nation under arrest.[80][11] Vira Savchenko lost, finishing third in her constituency with 7.02% of the votes (winnerSerhiy Mishchenko won 40.41%).[78]
In late November 2014, Savchenko signed her parliamentary oath and passed it to Ukraine through her lawyer and was thus sworn in asPeople's Deputy of Ukraine (MP) on 27 November 2014.[18][81]
On 25 December 2014, Savchenko was included in Ukraine's quota for representatives in theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE); as noted above, legally this granted herparliamentary immunity in all PACE signatory nations, including Russia.[82]
On 6 November 2015, Savchenko's firstdraft law was introduced to Ukrainian parliament, while she was imprisoned in Russia,[83] and was later passed into legislation.
On 27 May 2016, after returning from Russia in a prisoner exchange, Savchenko said she was prepared to becomePresident of Ukraine if Ukrainians wished.[84]
In 2016, Savchenko left Batkivshchyna, but remained a member of its parliamentary faction.[4] This was announced on 12 December 2016 right after Savchenko had admitted she had recently held a secret meeting with separatist leadersAleksandr Zakharchenko (of theDonetsk People's Republic) andIgor Plotnitsky (of theLuhansk People's Republic) inMinsk.[4][85] On 15 December 2016, Batkivshchyna expelled Savchenko from its parliamentary faction in response to her Minsk meeting with Zakharchenko and Plotnitsky.[86][87] The party saw this meeting as "negotiations with terrorists" and "adamantly opposed" it.[86][nb 1] Following this controversy, the Ukrainian parliament stripped Savchenko of her PACE membership on 22 December 2016.[89][90] On 27 December 2016, Savchenko established the Civic Platform RUNA (an acronym for Ukrainian People's Revolution).[91] According to Savchenko RUNA would not be a "political project" but rather a "mechanism" and a "natural association of people" who do not follow "populist slogans."[91] In July 2017, her new political party "Social and Political Platform of Nadiya Savchenko" was officially registered.[3] The same month she stated her intent to take part in the2019 Ukrainian presidential election.[92]
On 15 March 2018, the Attorney General of UkraineYuriy Lutsenko charged Savchenko with preparing a terrorist attack on the Ukrainian parliament.[93][94] On 22 March 2018, parliament stripped Savchenko of herparliamentary immunity and allowed her arrest.[95] That same day she was arrested on suspicion of planning an assault on the parliament and supporting acoup d'état.[96] Savchenko said she did not plan any terrorist attack, but instead talked with undercover Ukrainian governmentagent provocateurs who sought to discredit her.[96][97] She was released from detention on 15 April 2019.[25]
Savchenko took part as a candidate in2019 Ukrainian presidential elections and2019 Ukrainian parliamentary elections, but she was not elected.[98][99][100][101]
Other Ukrainians detained by Russia include:[70]
(now all released)
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