Argo Ideon: Kidnapped? No, helped!

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Photo: Tairo Lutter / Virumaa Teataja

Eston Kohver of Estonia isn’t the only one dragged to Russia and stuck behind bars awaiting judgement. For many a miserable month, Russia is holding the Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, whose story – though not a total parallel – is no less bewildering.

Separatist rebels seized the First Lieutenant Ms Savchenko on June 17th in Lugansk Oblast of Ukraine. The convoy of armoured vehicles she rode in was ambushed. In July, it became public Ms Savchenko was jailed in Russia, in Voronezh Oblast.

Later in July, Ms Savchenko’s lawyer filed a crime report to Russian authorities writing about how, on June 23rd, unknown individuals, repeatedly swapping vehicles, took her, bag over her head, from Lugansk, Ukraine to Russia while avoiding border points of both countries. Once in Russia, on the highway she was handed over to authorities and taken to Voronezh where she was placed in a guarded hotel and interrogated daily for a week. On June 30th, she was transferred to a preliminary investigation prison as accused in assisting in the murder of Russian journalists.

On August 21st, Russian investigative committee’s «extra special cases» committee at Voronezh Oblast formalised a regulation on refusal to launch criminal proceedings for kidnapping. In the document, it is stated Ms Savchenko’s claims regarding being kidnapped from Ukraine «were not confirmed». Ms Savchenko, they wrote, was simply picked up as a hitchhiker by a random car in Voronezh Oblast; after that, the car was pulled over by traffic police who, finding that the military uniform clad Ms Savchenko carried no documents, called the FSB. 

She was then taken to the investigative committee, the document continued, and the afternoon of the following day a senior official took her to hotel Euro where she «lived alone, without any guards, and was able to independently leave the hotel at any moment». She was placed in the hotel at her own wish, they said, and the officials under Russian interior ministry were simply «helping her».

When, where and how Nadiya Savchenko crossed the Russian border «proved impossible to find out». The persons transporting her committed no crime. Also, Ms Savchenko has personally given no false testimony regarding being kidnapped, ruled the Russian investigative committee, as she «erred in good faith, considering the activities of (a list of six names) unlawful».

Concluding: a pilot of the Ukrainian air force, a First lieutenant, an Iraqi war veteran, just happened to mistakenly assume she was taken to Russia against her will and was being held there – in reality, she was helped by kind people! The girl got a bit confused – but who wouldn’t, at times?

In the hopes of Mark Feigin the lawyer, Ms Savchenko was candidate for release under the prisoner swap following Ukrainian cease fire. Not quite. At the moment, the lady is probably under forensic psychiatric examination in Moscow – treated by experts...

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