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Developments in eastern Ukraine

Ukrainian woman pilot meets mother, consul in Moscow hospital

Nadezhda Savchenko, charged with involvement in the killing of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine, and her visitors were allowed to speak only Russian during the meeting

© ITAR-TASS/Alexandr Rumin

MOSCOW, October 15. /TASS/. Ukrainian female pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, who has been charged with involvement in the killing of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine, has met with her mother and Ukraine's consul general, her lawyer said on Wednesday.

The meetings took place at he Serbsky State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry where Savchenko was taken to undergo psychiatric testing, the lawyer said.

The meetings lasted for 30-40 minutes, he said adding that Savchenko and her visitors were allowed to speak only Russian.

In early July, Russia's Investigative Committee charged Savchenko with involvement in the murder of two reporters, who worked for the Russian VGTRK TV corporation in Ukraine.

Russian investigators said Savchenko, who was arrested after illegally entering the Russian territory, joined the Aidar battalion during combat operations near the city of Luhansk in June. Locating the positions of the Russian TV crew and other civilians near Luhansk, she passed them on to the military that opened mortar fire on the group of people, which resulted in the killing of the Russian reporters Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin in mid-June.

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