MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Ukrainian prosecutors have handed over to Russian investigators documents related to Ukrainian ex-military Nadezhda Savchenko jailed on charges of aiding the killing of two Russian journalists in east Ukraine last year.
Savchenko's Russian defense lawyer, Mark Feigin, told TASS: "The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office has forwarded documents on Nadezhda Savchenko at Russia’s request. They will be added to the case as evidence."
Feigin recalled that Russia’s Investigative Committee sent a request to Ukraine in October last year, asking to provide documents and answer the committee’s questions related to the case. Under terms of an existing mutual legal assistance treaty, a package of documents was submitted to Russian authorities on March 12, including interrogation records, expert conclusions and other case materials.
All these documents "prove Savchenko’s innocence", the lawyer said.
"We propose once again that the criminal persecution of Savchenko under Article105 of the Criminal Code [murder] be dismissed for lack of evidence," Feigin added.
The 33-year-old Ukrainian military pilot has been charged with involvement in an attack that killed two Russian journalists on eastern Ukraine's frontlines, where she enlisted as a volunteer in one of the battalions fighting against local militias.
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.
Moscow's Basmanny court on February 10 extended detention for Savchenko until May 13. The period of investigation on Savchenko’s case has also been extended until May 13.