Throughout the severity of the order

On March 22, the Donetsk City Court of the Rostov Region put an end to the loud process in the case of Nadezhda Savchenko. As a Ukrainian soldier became a national hero in his homeland and the hero of the political process in Russia - the New Times found out

At the trial: the accused looks accusingly , Donetsk, Rostov Region, March 3, 2016

On charges of killing journalists from VGTRK Anton Voloshin and Igor Korneluk and attempted murder of the operator Viktor Denisov, Nadezhda Savchenko will have to spend 22 years in a general regime colony. In addition, a fine of 30 thousand rubles was assigned for illegally crossing the border. But it is likely that Savchenko will not pay or pay.

From journalism to Iraq

The girl Nadia, born in Kiev, grew up in Kyiv by an unusual, very strong -willed, stubborn and very conflict person. According to the memoirs of loved ones, understanding the Russian language well, hope spoke only in Ukrainian. “Nadia's works in Ukrainian were read at the checkout as a sample. She had a good memory, she really loved to draw, embroider, but she could have fixed the crane, ”Maria Ivanovna, mother Savchenko, is proud of. The daughter, who from childhood, who wanted to become a military pilot, equipped for her, seamstress by profession, a home workshop and, after graduation, tried herself in the same field, having received the education of a designer-designer. But the civilian specialty did not appeal to her. And then Nadezhda, remembering another dream of youth, entered the Faculty of Journalism, deciding to become a military correspondent. However, there was not enough money in the family: a year later, Nadezhda took documents from the university and signed a contract with the armed forces.

Pupil of school No. 238 of the Desnyansky district of Kyiv (Ukraine) Nadia Savchenko

Having started the radio operator in the railway troops, Savchenko soon moved to the Ukrainian analogue of the Airborne Forces-the 95th Zhytomyr airmobile brigade and, being its fighter, in 2004, as part of the peacekeeping contingent, went to Iraq for six months. According to rumors, the command refused to take hope on this trip, but the decision was changed after personal intercession of the former division of the battalion commander Oleg Matizhev, who later died in Iraq. Savchenko became the first in the history of Ukraine a woman-shooter of an armored personnel carrier to participate in peacekeeping missions.

The navigator-operator of the Mi-24 helicopter Nadezhda Savchenko

Our heroine herself recalls this mission in the book “Strong Nadezhda Name”, written during the imprisonment in the Russian pre -trial detention center: “After preparation, we were dressed in camouflage of sand color, they were given backpacks and each was added to the load of“ useful social products ”: in my backpack, plus 30 kg of electrolyte for electric welding. The backpack was, in addition, with me in a detailed version and on my 60 kg is twice as heavier - 120 kg, weighed at customs. I reported him and loaded it myself. Well, ants can, but people are worse? "

Savchenko became the first in the history of Ukraine a woman-shooter of an armored personnel carrier to participate in peacekeeping missions

There are rumors that during a business trip the local Prince of Eswehyra wake up for the hope. However, I did not achieve success: “I brought me flowers, I did not take any other gifts,” Savchenko said in one of the television programs, “he bowed low, but explained that we had the wrong traditions.”

Returning from Iraq, hope on the third attempt and, as they say, only by patronage of the Minister of Defense Anatoly Gritsenko entered the Kharkov University of Air Forces, from where she was twice exposed for directness and sharp language. According to another version, the reason for the deductions was banal poor performance. In the personal file - the official wording "is not suitable for flights as a pilot." Mother recalls these events like this: “She refused to collect money from cadets for the repair of the barracks, because they had a scanty scholarship, and openly said this to the leadership of the university. The next day she was expelled. She went to the command, showed her assessments - she was restored. " Another time, she submitted to officers who did not want to previously put in the dining room, lunch in dirty dishes. She flew out again and recovered again. As a result, Savchenko received the navigator's diploma and went to the service of the officer in the post of navigator-operator of the Mi-24 helicopter. At the moment, she has 170 hours of plaque and 45 parachute jumps. The fellow soldiers recall: Nadezhda said that she was not going to marry and give birth to children, and also had a dream to die in the service. Such words are attributed to her: “Happy is the person who dies at his work. When the surfed is covered by a wave, when the parachute does not open the parachute, when the submariner does not pop up. ”

Heroine and villainy

During the Kyiv Maidan, Nadezhda, despite the decision of the leadership of the Ukrainian army to adhere to neutrality, actively participated in protests. After the start of the conflict in the east of Ukraine, she took a vacation and went to fight as part of the Aidar volunteer battalion, later writing a report on dismissal from a regular army. Former Aydar commander Sergei Melnichuk, in respect of whom a separate criminal case has been instituted in Russia, calls Savchenko a real fighter: "Madly, Nadia is a man ... She was an unambiguous authority among the guys."

Although Savchenko herself assured that she was mainly engaged in the evacuation of the wounded and the training of fellow soldiers, many accuse her of atrocities and war crimes. The rector of the St. Nicholas Church near Lugansk Archpriest Vladimir Maretsky tells how the Aidarovites tortured him: “To say that we were beaten is to say nothing. We were killed ... They beat us not only with arms and legs, but also with butt and improvised means. Nadezhda Savchenko was especially good ... Personally, she offered to hand over our entire group to the bodies in order to make money. Personally, she offered to shoot us ... Personally, she ... took part in sadistic antics and beat us with various jokes-pribauts. "

In the Aidar battalion, Savchenko was not listed as a orderly or instructor, but by the platoon commander. Ex-Combat Melnichuk says that at the time of her captivity, a petition was prepared on the appointment of Savchenko by his deputy.

Soldier, not a killer

In May and June 2014, hot battles went on the territory of the self -proclaimed LPR. City citizens often fell under the shelling, the exact figure of losses among whom has not yet been established. The Investigative Committee of Russia even hastily created a special department for the investigation of international crimes against civilians committed in Ukraine, headed by General Alexander Drymanov, which was eventually engaged in the Savchenko case.

The official version of the prosecution says that on June 17, from 10 to 11 in the morning, Savchenko received the order of the battalion commander Melnichuk to coordinate the fire of artillery in the area of ​​the villages of Metalist and Stukalov Balka near Lugansk. For this, hope climbed onto the mast of the mobile communications retranstale, located about three kilometers from the place of death of Russian journalists, and deliberately brought howitzers fire to the film crew of the VGTRK. As a result, about 11 hours 40 minutes, under the breaks of shells, Anton Voloshin died on the spot, and Igor Kornelyuk was seriously injured and later died in the hospital.

The investigation claimed that after about an hour the pilot was discovered 700 meters from the place where Savchenko allegedly coordinated fire, the militias of the Zarya battalion of the LPR army. They captured and delivered to Lugansk. There she stayed for a week, until June 23, by order of the commander of the battalion "Zarya" Igor Plotnitsky, was taken away from the city and released on all four sides. However, instead of getting to her own, Savchenko decided to cross the border with Russia under the guise of refugees. This version, with which the court ultimately agreed, is built mainly at the testimony. The militia Dmitry Oslovsky, during the process, said that he personally detained Savchenko, who introduced himself as a pilot and added that, since aviation is not used in the anti -terrorist operation zone, she is engaged in coordination of artillery fire. Oslovsky’s colleague Alexei Langovy during interrogation also claimed that during captivity, Nadezhda called herself a correctiveman. At the same time, none of the witnesses personally saw how Savchenko climbed onto the tower. By the way, for this she would have to overcome almost seven meters of the tower along a bare metal surface with a wound of her hand.

“I am a soldier, not a killer. Killed in battle, killed when they attacked my homeland. But never killed unarmed "

Savchenko’s lawyers built a line of defense on documentary evidence. They presented the court with mobile billing data, which show that at about 10 in the morning, that is, an hour before the captivity, the Savchenko telephone was served by a communication station in the center of Lugansk, which means that she physically could not be in the place where, according to the charge, the fire adjusted the fire. Lawyers also presented judges with a video of a video made by one of the militias immediately after captivity. Astronomers analyzed this video and, by the position of shadows from the Sun, came to the conclusion that the pilot was detained somewhere at 10.30, that is, an hour before shelling. This conclusion was announced in court by a researcher at the Sternberg State Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University Olga Zhyakova. The judges recognized these arguments insolvent.

“The only thing I could never have fired to unarmed people,” Savchenko herself said during the interrogation at the process. “I am a soldier, not a killer.” Even if they were enemies. No weapons - there is no fight. Killed in battle, killed when they attacked my homeland. But never killed unarmed. "

The accusation of illegally crossing the border looks very unproven, according to lawyers of hope. Several witnesses said that they brought Savchenko from the Russian border to the village of Kantemirovka in the Voronezh region, where the traffic cop stopped the car. Having discovered that the woman has no documents, the traffic police inspector handed her to the FSB.

Savchenko’s defense claims: the militias handed it over to the Russian security forces. Nadezhda itself says that from Lugansk to Russia, transplanting from the car to the car, it took her a Russian, whom she later recognized as Pavel Karpov, a former assistant to an employee of the Russian Presidential Administration Nikita Ivanov. The member of the Public Chamber of Moscow Pavel Karpov himself denies these allegations. Further, Savchenko was kept under arrest at the Voronezh Hotel, where it was interrogated by Russian law enforcement officers.

“The Investigative Committee of Russia had the need for living defendants,” Ilya Novikov, one of the lawyers of hope, explained NT . - The subordinates of General Drymanov had a lot of correspondence arrested and accused and not a single real. They wanted some Ukrainian officer to tell him, suppose, Kolomoisky for the murder of journalists. This was required for a demonstration court. And when the news came that journalists were dying in one day and several Ukrainian military were captured, it was decided to choose Savchenko. We hoped to break. They thought that it was easier with a woman. But they did not break. At the same time, they did not give back in time. As a result, we got this process. ”

After the sentence: Sister of Nadezhda Vera, Donetsk, Rostov Region, March 22, 2016

According to Novikov, hope was transported across the border, closing his eyes with a yellow scarf. And all other prisoners, detained with her, were exchanged. The lawyer says: the negotiator from the Ukrainian side Vladimir Ruban told him that for Savchenko, the militias wanted to receive earlier the lover of the Field commander of the DPR Igor Bezler. However, the Russian side demanded that hope be transferred to Russia. “This is also confirmed by the conversation of Valery Bolotov (ex-head of the LPR) with Karpov,” said NT Novikov. - Since Karpov understood that Savchenko would take a “grandmother” in one way or another (as the FSB was designated in a telephone conversation), he decided to “resolve” the issue and transfer the prisoner Drymanov from the UK, who really needed the accused. So Karpov raised his status. ”

According to Novikov, now the presidential administration already understands that the whole story with Savchenko is the failure of the UK.
But they can no longer recognize this. After all, in the case, Vladimir Putin personally gave comments. And that means that only the president himself can solve something now. “In our opinion, the country's leadership simply rubbed glasses, arguing that the criminal case is investigated correctly and it has all the necessary evidence of guilt,” Novikov continued. - But in fact, it did not even work out qualitatively falsify evidence. Such hack, in theory, should be punished. However, the opportunity to complete the case, blaming the blame on incompetent lower employees, has already been lost. So now you will have to come up with some explanation for the TV why Savchenko needs to be given. ”

An example for Russia

At the trial, Savchenko behaved defiantly, as if realizing that the whole process was only a theatrical performance with her in the main role. She sang, screamed, bought with judges and even showed them indecent gestures. In her last word, the pilot stated that she would be the reason for the beginning of the Maidan in Russia. “I want to show with my example that in Russia a totalitarian regime can be twisted into Barani Rih,” shouted Savchenko, climbed onto the bench of the defendants and showed the judges the middle finger. The defendant also promised to declare a dry hunger strike and refuse to eat and water until Russia return it to Ukraine “living or dead”.

Mom Maria Savchenko, Donetsk, Rostov Region, March 9, 2016

“Hope has a very difficult and tough character,” Ilya Novikov told NT , “it is extremely difficult to convince her of something. Take at least an example with the same hunger strike. We still ask for hope not to refuse food. But it is already clear that to no avail. If he decides, he can go to the end and hit himself with hunger. But it can also change the point of view, but only independently. Now she has no other levers of influence on the situation, except for the hunger strike. And she will not want to come to terms with. ”

True, despite the repeatedly declared hunger strikes, at court meetings, Nadezhda did not look very haggard or unwell. Perhaps this is due to her own interpretation of the rules of starvation. According to her lawyers, Savchenko, by this process, means only the refusal to take solid food. Defender Mark Feigin commented on this method of protest as follows: “That's how it is starving. And she could starve differently. If she had been starving without using anything at all, she would have died after 20–25 days. ”

The presidents decide

“Nadezhda does not plan to appeal this illegal sentence,” defender Nikolai Polozov told NT after the announcement of the court decision, “since he understands that this is an absolutely meaningless occupation. She has the affairs of the Ukrainian political prisoners who have already passed in Russian courts and the first instance and appeal, and she understands that nothing can be changed with such a system. Hope itself is a person with an iron will. This allows her to withstand what is happening to her for almost two years. She will not serve this punishment. Today Savchenko is an international politician. I hope that the Russian leadership has the desire not to do nonsense in this matter. There is no other option. The verdict is only the beginning of a large political career of Nadezhda Viktorovna. Soon she will be free. "

“The verdict is only the beginning of a large political career of Nadezhda Viktorovna. She will be free soon "

Many Western leaders have already asked about the liberation of Savchenko President Putin. This issue with him was discussed by the phone by Barack Obama himself. “The result of our work was the fact that even before the verdict, Western negotiators are not embarrassed to declare that the court is dishonest,” lawyer Ilya Novikov explained his position NT. - This is a very serious way out of the usual framework for them. After all, they usually wait for court decisions and appeals and only then begin to speak. It can also be seen that none of the representatives of foreign states shows doubts that this is a false business. Apparently, for Europeans it is of great importance that Savchenko is a deputy PACE. And no matter what Russia was thinking about the action of immunity, at first it was necessary to ask about this PACE itself. For the Americans, as very high -ranking employees of the State Department explained to me, the fact that Savchenko was taken in Ukraine and illegally took out through the border to Russia is of paramount importance. You can treat evidence and examinations differently, but nothing will change the story with the abduction. According to the USA, this means that this case automatically falls under the Minsk agreements. Everyone agrees with this except the Russian side. They explained to me that it is impossible to talk about any further promotion of negotiations both in Minsk and other places without a decision of the fate of hope. Now the Russian authorities should figure out how to issue such a decision: as an exchange, as a pardon or in another way. I believe that the result will be obtained already over the next weeks, in extreme cases of months. ” Moreover, according to Novikov, he clearly said that the conversation about the abolition of sanctions cannot go. Наоборот — стоит вопрос о введении новых санкций. Конгресс США явно обдумывает этот вариант. У его членов предвыборный год и они склонны к радикальным решениям. «Со стороны России было бы разумнее не дать им такой возможности и отпустить Савченко раньше, — считает адвокат. — Сама Надежда сегодня не верит никому».

фото: Валерий Матыцин/ТАСС, Василий Дерюгин/КоммерсантЪ, BBC.COM, UNN.COM.UA