Ukraine demands unconditional release of pilot Savchenko - Foreign Ministry

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has demanded that the Russian side release Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko, who was captured in Luhansk region and transferred to a detention center in Voronezh, without any conditions.

"We again demand that the Russian side unconditionally release Nadia Savchenko and bring to justice those involved in her illegal transfer to Russian territory," the ministry said in a statement obtained by Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.

The ministry said that Russia allowed a Ukrainian consul to visit Savchenko only on July 16, under pressure from the international community.

"Through its long delay in this issue, Russia grossly violated universal norms of international law in the field of human rights and freedoms, international legal obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963, and the provisions of the 1994 Consular Convention between Ukraine and the Russian Federation," reads the statement.

The Foreign Ministry noted that Savchenko confirmed during the conversation with the consul that she had been transferred to Russia illegally and forcibly (handcuffed and blindfolded), "where terrorists handed her to persons in camouflage." While in jail the pilot went on a hunger strike, which she stopped only after meeting with the consul.

"The health of our compatriot is satisfactory. She said that methods of physical influence had not been used with respect to her. Her meeting with lawyer Mark Feyg in is scheduled for July 17," the ministry said.

The ministry noted that an official statement by Russian representatives, as well as explanations of the Russian Foreign Ministry in a note on July 11, regarding the circumstances of Savchenko's arrival in Russia "as a refugee" is untrue.

"The accusations against Savchenko are also untrue and trumped-up," the ministry said.