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Ukraine ex-pilot Savchenko to go on dry hunger strike on April 6 — lawyer

The Ukrainian ex-military has been sentenced to 22 years in prison in Russia
Nadezhda Savchenko Valeriy Matytsin/TASS
Nadezhda Savchenko
© Valeriy Matytsin/TASS

ROSTOV ON DON, April 4. /TASS/. Former Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, found guilty of killing two Russian journalists and sentenced to 22 years in jail, will go on a dry hunger strike on April 6, her lawyer said on Monday.

"Savchenko will declare a dry hunger strike the day after tomorrow," Nikolai Polozov said. "She demands immediate return to Ukraine."

The sentence for the ex-pilot will come into force on April 5.

On March 22, a court in southern Russia found Savchenko guilty of directing the Ukrainian army’s artillery fire in eastern Ukraine that killed Russian journalists Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin and also illegally crossing Russia’s border. She was sentenced to 22 years in prison and a fine of 30,000 rubles ($440). As Savchenko said earlier, she does not recognize the court’s verdict but wouldn’t appeal against it.

Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko said late last month that he was ready to swap Savchenko for two Russians kept in detention in Ukraine - Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Aleksandrov - as soon as their own court trials were over.