Trial of Ukrainian Pilot Nadia Savchenko Begins

The trial of Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko has begun in the southern Russian city of Donetsk, RFE reports. Savchenko is charged with involvement in the killing of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Western governments and human rights groups have condemned Savchenko’s detention, which has lasted more than a year, and called for her release.

Savchenko has called the case against her “rubbish,” and was on hunger strike for 83 days until May this year. She says she was kidnapped by Russian forces in Ukraine in June 2014 and taken across the Russian border. Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty