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Vol. 80/No. 23 June 13, 2016
Framed Ukraine pilot Savchenko freed from Russian jail
BY MAGGIE TROWE
Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko was granted clemency by Russian
President Vladimir Putin and released May 25 after nearly two years in a
Russian prison. She returned to a hero’s welcome in Ukraine.
Savchenko, now 35, took part in the mass mobilizations in early 2014
that forced out the pro-Moscow regime of Viktor Yanukovych. After Moscow
annexed Crimea and backed armed separatists who seized sections of the
Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, Savchenko joined the
volunteer Aidar battalion to fight the separatists. She was captured
June 17, 2014, and taken to Russia.
Savchenko denied Moscow’s shifting charges against her, including the
claim that she was responsible for directing mortar fire that killed two
Russian journalists. After a show trial earlier this year, she was
sentenced to 22 years in prison.
She refused to cooperate with Russian authorities and carried out
several hunger strikes protesting her conditions. Demonstrations
demanding her freedom took place in Ukraine, Russia, across Europe and
in U.S. cities March 6-9.
Savchenko was released in exchange for two Russian soldiers convicted in
Ukraine for fighting with separatist forces. Moscow denied they had been
on active duty in Ukraine, and they returned to Russia without fanfare.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, a capitalist billionaire whose
regime has attacked the working class and restricted democratic rights,
demonstratively welcomed Savchenko and basked in the glow of celebration
of her release. His government has been in turmoil amid corruption
scandals and a deepening economic crisis.
Ukraine’s economy shrank last year, a result of the worldwide economic
contraction, the impact of the separatist war and Moscow’s seizure of
Crimea. A “rescue plan” proffered by the International Monetary Fund,
which represents Washington’s interests, demanded Kiev reduce social
spending, raise taxes and privatize state-owned enterprises, cutting
thousands of jobs.
While in prison, Savchenko was elected to parliament on the ticket of
the Fatherland Party headed by Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister
and rival of Poroshenko. Savchenko took her distance from Tymoshenko’s
effusive airport greeting.
Savchenko is widely discussed as a possible candidate for president.
“Ukrainians, if you need me to be president, I’ll be president,” she
told reporters in Kiev.
Related articles:
Trotsky’s 1939 call for ‘united, independent Soviet Ukraine’
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