Nadezhda Savchenko not involved in shelling of journalists, Ukrainian soldier claims at trial

At the trial in the criminal case against Ukrainian aviator Nadezhda Savchenko, the court of the Rostov Region has questioned a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a witness.

Witness Ivan Rusnak was invited to the courtroom for questioning at the request of advocate Ilya Novikov. He is a fighter of the 80^th airmobile brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), who contacted Nadezhda Savchenko shortly before her capture.

Ivan Rusnak has stated that the defendant is not involved in the shelling of the journalists of the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (known as VGTRK) not far from the village of Metallist.

The trial in the case against Nadezhda Savchenko is of political nature. This opinion was expressed by Boris Zakharov, Director of the Advocacy Centre of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union.

"It is a political trial. And we should not expect anything good from it. It is quite clear that the decision on the case is made not in the courtroom... Thus, we cannot discuss here the rule of law and fair trial. However, due to the growing economic crisis in Russia and the international isolation of the Russian Federation, ... sharp turns may take place in trials in cases of political prisoners. For the same reason, we hope for the future possible exchange of Nadezhda Savchenko for someone," Boris Zakharov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.