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Former Ukrainian pilot Savchenko resumes hunger-strike

Savchenko has been on hunger strike since December to protest against her arrest, in early March she started taking chicken broth and special medical nutritional supplements due to health condition

Nadezhda Savchenko Artyom Korotayev/TASS

Nadezhda Savchenko

© Artyom Korotayev/TASS

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Russian human rights commissioner to keep track of former Ukrainian pilot Savchenko case

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. Former Ukrainian female pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, jailed on charges of aiding the killing of two Russian journalists in east Ukraine last year, has again gone on hunger-strike, her lawyer said on Monday.

"I've just seen her. She has resumed hunger-strike and again demands release," Mark Feigin told TASS.

"She is drinking water and strong tea with no sugar," the lawyer said.

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Savchenko went on hunger strike in December to protest against her arrest. In early March she started taking chicken broth and special medical nutritional supplements.

Savchenko's second lawyer, Nikolay Polozov said she had no plans to stop the hunger-strike. "She took a pause due to her health condition but is feeling better now and continues the strike," he said.

Russian investigators say that Savchenko, the gunner of a Mi-24 helicopter, joined the notorious Aidar battalion during combat operations in the much-troubled Luhansk region of Ukraine last June.

Noting the position of a filming crew of the Russian State Broadcasting Company and other civilians, she allegedly reported the data to mortar-equipped personnel who fired on the crew and the civilians. As a result, correspondent Igor Kornelyuk and sound engineer Anton Voloshin were killed.

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