Savchenko denies having skills of artillery observer
DONETSK. Sept 29 (Interfax) - Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who started answering questions in court in the Russian town of Donetsk on Tuesday, has said that she has no skills in directing gunfire.
"I possess skills of forward air control but have no skills of an artillery observer," Savchenko said.
She also revealed that she had graduated from Ukraine's Kharkiv University of the Air Force and, afterwards, served in the army as a helicopter crew member.
Savchenko chose to give evidence in court in Russian. "It is very difficult to cut my thoughts into separate pieces for the interpreter," Savchenko said.
Savchenko was in the Maidan from late 2013 through early 2014. "I was in Kiyv's Maidan on the most deadly days," Savchenko said during questioning in court. She said that she was giving medical aid and urged the Berkut regiment soldiers to have mercy on people.
Savchenko also said that she had instructed soldiers of the Aidar battalion during her vacation. "During my vacation in 2014, I was teaching soldiers of the Aidar battalion on the art of war, as less than 100 of them had done compulsory military service," she said.
Apart from this, she participated in warfare near the town of Schastya in the Luhansk region. Later on, she asked for redeployment from her Ukrainian air force unit to the Aidar battalion where she wanted to serve as a morale officer so that she could work as a psychologist.
In addition, Savchenko said that she feels no aggression towards the population and defenders of Donbas. "If there were no invasion in Crimea, there would have been no war in Donbas," she said when answering the questions of her lawyers.
"People in Donbas are Ukrainians too, but they have just forgotten about it. I believe that those who came to Donbas to defend the Russian-speaking population are under a delusion. However, I feel no aggression towards either of these groups," Savchenko said.
Earlier the court refused to uphold the petitions submitted by the defense lawyers requesting that the authorize make use of a polygraph detector, a video projector, and an internet map. The court held those petitions as untimely and found no need to change the way in which the case is being tried in court.