Moscow says exchange of Ukrainian pilot Savchenko for two Russians possible

The Russian President’s Council for Civil Society and Human Rights is considering the possibility of exchanging Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko for Russian citizens Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev.

Chairman of the council Mikhail Fedotov hopes that Yerofeyev, Alexandrov and Savchenko will soon go back home. “I see no other way but to exchange them,” he said.

As EADaily reported earlier, Ukrainian pilot, nationalist Nadezhda Savchenko is in custody in Russia for accessory to the murder of Russian journalists Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin in Lugansk region in July 2014. She does not plead guilty. Ukraine insists on her release.

Alexandrov and Yerofeyev were detained in Lugansk region and charged with terrorism. Ukraine regards the Russians as military men but is laying criminal charges against them. Russia’s Defense Ministry says that Alexandrov and Yerofeyev were not in the army when detained. On Nov 3, a Kiev court extended their custody till Jan 2 2016.