ROSTOV-ON-DON, October 5. /TASS/. A regional court in southern Russia has upheld an earlier ruling to extend the arrest of former Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko until January 16, 2016, a court source told TASS.
"Rostov regional court, being higher, upheld Donetsk city court's ruling on the extension..." the source said, noting rejection of the appeal challenging the preliminary hearing's September 15 judgement.
Investigators say Savchenko, a Ukrainian forces officer, joined the Aidar militant battalion and in June of last year was conducting covert surveillance and direction of artillery bombarding of a checkpoint in eastern Ukraine's self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.
Russian journalists Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin died in the shelling. Savchenko is also charged with attempted homicide as six local residents also came under fire.
Investigators claim Savchenko came to Russia after illegally crossing the border, hence the location chosen for the trial.
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