DONETSK (Rostov Region), March 2. /TASS/. Russia’s prosecutor has called for a 23-year prison term and a fine of 100,000 rubles ($1,400) for former Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko accused of killing two Russian reporters in summer 2014.
"The state prosecution believes it is possible to announce a final sentence of 23 years in jail to Savchenko," the prosecutor said, adding that Savchenko’s guilt in the murder of the reporters is "fully proven."
Savchenko was also accused of attempts on the life of cameraman Viktor Denisov and six Ukrainian citizens who came under artillery shelling. The prosecutor has asked to remove these accusations from the case.
"Unfortunately, the Russian law does not allow bringing to justice the defendant for this crime in Russia’s territory," he said.
The prosecutor stressed that Savchenko has no immunity as the crimes had been committed before she was named a member of Ukraine’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in late January 2015.
Russia’s investigators say Savchenko, the gunner of a Mi-24 helicopter, joined the Aidar militant battalion and in June 2014 conducted covert surveillance and direction of artillery bombarding targeting a checkpoint in the much-troubled Lugansk region. The settlement was full of civilians, including three Russian journalists.
Two Russian journalists - Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin - from the All-Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (VGTRK) died in the shelling.