Pardoned Russians swapped for jailed Ukrainian Savchenko - source close to swap deal

Record ID: 101989

  • Title: Pardoned Russians swapped for jailed Ukrainian Savchenko - source close to swap deal
  • Date: 25th May 2016
  • Summary: DONETSK, RUSSIA (MARCH 22, 2016) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF SAVCHENKO IN GLASS CAGE IN COURTROOM LISTENING TO JUDGE READING OUT SENTENCE MEDIA WIDE OF COURTROOM SAVCHENKO'S LAWYER / SAVCHENKO IN GLASS CAGE IN BACKGROUND STARTS SINGING UKRAINIAN FOLK SONG WIDE OF COURTROOM / VOICE OF JUDGE READING OUT SENTENCE POLICE AND MEDIA WIDE OF COURTROOM KIEV, UKRAINE (APRIL 19, 2016) (REUTERS) ALEXANDER ALEXANDROV (RIGHT) AND YEVGENY YEROFEYEV IN COURT CAGE YEROFEYEV LISTENING JUDGE PREPARING TO READY OUT VERDICT ALEXANDROV (RIGHT) AND YEROFEYEV LISTENING VARIOUS OF JUDGE MYKOLA DIDYK READING OUT VERDICT YEROFEYEV LISTENING JUDGE READING OUT VERDICT ALEXANDROV LISTENING JUDGE TAKING SEAT, ASKING ALEXANDROV AND YEROFEYEV IF THEY UNDERSTOOD VERDICT/ ALEXANDROV AND YEROFEYEV STANDING UP AND NODDING
  • Embargoed: 9th June 2016 11:17
  • Keywords: Ukraine Russia Savchenko trial Yerofeyev Alexandrov
  • Location: DONETSK, RUSSIA AND KIEV, UKRAINE
  • City: DONETSK, RUSSIA AND KIEV, UKRAINE
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014JB3613
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Detained Ukrainian servicewoman Nadiya Savchenko is on board a plane returning to Ukraine from Russia, a source close to a deal to swap the pilot for two Russians held by Kiev said on Wednesday (May 25).
    Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was flying to Russia to bring home Savchenko in exchange for the release of Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, Russian media and a source close to the swap said.
    Russia's Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying Poroshenko's aircraft was en route to the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. On board his plane, the agency said, were Yerofeyev and Alexandrov, who both told Reuters in interviews last year they are Russian special forces soldiers who were captured while carrying out a secret operation in eastern Ukraine.
    The plan, according to the source quoted by Interfax, was for Poroshenko to deliver the two Russians and pick up Savchenko and take her home.
    Asked by Reuters if the exchange was now underway, a source close to the arrangements said: "Yes."
    Savchenko, a military pilot, volunteered to fight with a ground unit against pro-Moscow separatists who rose up against Kiev's rule in eastern Ukraine.
    She was captured and put on trial in southern Russia, charged with complicity in the deaths of Russian journalists who were killed by artillery while covering the conflict.
    A Russian court in March sentenced her to 22 years in jail. While in Russian jail, she was elected a member of the Ukrainian parliament and is widely seen in Ukraine as a symbol of resistance against Russia.
    Handing over Savchenko, whose release has been demanded by Western governments and who has become a national hero in Ukraine, would ease tensions between Moscow and the West a few weeks before the European Union decides whether to extend sanctions on Russia.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register