Basmanny Court to hear investigator request for Savchenko custody extension on Oct 27
MOSCOW. Oct 20 (Interfax) - Investigators have asked for an extension of custody for the Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko who is accused in Russia of abetting the killing of Russian journalists.
"The material over the extension of the constraining measure has been received and will be examined at a session on October 27," Moscow's Basmanny Court spokeswoman Anna Fadeyeva told Interfax on Monday.
It was reported earlier that Savchenko, 31, fought with Ukraine's Aidar volunteer battalion. The Donbas militia captured her in June.
The Investigative Committee says Savchenko crossed into Russia under disguise as a refugee and was detained for identification in a populated locality. She was identified as a suspect in the murder of Russian journalists Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin near Luhansk. An official charge of complicity to murder was brought against the pilot on July 9.
For its part, Ukraine has insisted that all Ukrainians held in custody in Russia, including Savchenko, must be released under the Minsk protocol clause requiring the release of all hostages.
Savchenko is the Number One entry on the Batkivshchina's party list in the early parliamentary elections in Ukraine, scheduled for October 26.
Currently Savchenko is undergoing psychiatric examinations in Moscow.
