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Expert examinations confirm ex-Ukrainian pilot Savchenko guilt — top Russian investigator

Savchenko is accused of involvement in the murder of two Russian journalists in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk Region last summer, as well as illegal crossing of the border with the Russian Federation

MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. The guilt of former Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, accused of involvement in the murder of Russian journalists, is confirmed by expert examinations, Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said Thursday.

Savchenko is accused of involvement in the murder of two Russian journalists in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk Region last summer, as well as illegal crossing of the border with the Russian Federation. She has been arraigned. The period of investigation on her case has been extended until November 13. Earlier her lawyers told TASS their client asked her case to be considered by a jury.

An investigator said Wednesday that Savchenko and her lawyers have got familiarized with the case materials, and they will soon sign a relevant protocol. After familiarization, the case will be handed to the prosecutor’s office for approval of indictment and later passed to court.

"Investigators have logically completed investigation, having collected required evidence. I may only name the key points. First, these are data of the situational forensic examination, which confirmed that it was possible for Savchenko to carry out the task to adjust artillery fire at an area near the village of Metallist," Markin said.

"Second, the results of the ballistics examination of fragments taken out of the bodies of those killed, which confirmed that an artillery shelling from D-30 howitzers took place," he said.

"Third," the top Russian investigator said, "these are Savchenko’s writings, as well as a detailed terrain map testifying to her role in hostilities."

According to investigators, during combat operations near the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk in the summer of 2014, Savchenko, who was a gunner for a Mil Mi-24 (NATO reporting name: Hind) helicopter gunship, joined the Aidar battalion — a paramilitary group of Ukraine’s Interior Ministry.

She is accused of involvement in the murder of two Russian journalists, Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin, near Luhansk in July 2014. She does not admit her guilt.