Ukraine pilot hero is ‘freed from the jaws of Mordor’
A FEMALE Ukrainian pilot has been freed by Russia in a prisoner swap.
Nadiya Savchenko had been in a Moscow jail since 2014 but was released “from the jaws of Mordor” her lawyer announced, referring to the land ruled by evil Lord of the Rings despot Sauron.
She was returned yesterday in exchange for two Russian special forces soldiers held in Ukraine.
She yelled: “I’m free and ready to once again give my life for Ukraine on the battlefield.”
Ukraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko went to the airport to meet Savchenko, who received a hero’s welcome. The swap marks a thaw in relations between Moscow and Kiev and comes a few weeks before the EU decides whether to extend sanctions against Russia. They were imposed after Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and fight against Ukraine. The exchange was agreed during a telephone conversation between Putin, Poroshenko, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande. The Russians sent a special presidential plane to Kiev and brought home Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov.
The Russian soldiers were captured while carrying out a secret operation in the rebel-held Donbas region.
They were jailed for 14 years last month after being found guilty of waging an “aggressive war” against Ukraine.
Savchenko, 34, was sentenced to 22 years in jail for killing two journalists in eastern Ukraine – charges she strenuously denied.
Lawyer Mark Feygin broke the news by tweeting: “I promised Ukrainians to do everything possible to free Nadiya. “I know how to keep my word. She’s heading home to Ukraine,” he added. His colleague Nikolai Polozov said: “It’s been a long , complicated road. “But we have been able to prove that there are no insurmountable tasks and we’ve managed to free the hostage from the jaws of Mordor.”