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| Russia Tricked Ukrainian Pilot Into Easing Hunger Strike, Lawyer Says | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| MOSCOW — Nadya V. Savchenko, a captured Ukrainian military pilot who in a show of defiance raised her middle finger to a Russian judge and sang the Ukrainian national anthem in court, ended a dry hunger strike on Thursday by drinking water, according to her lawyer. | MOSCOW — Nadya V. Savchenko, a captured Ukrainian military pilot who in a show of defiance raised her middle finger to a Russian judge and sang the Ukrainian national anthem in court, ended a dry hunger strike on Thursday by drinking water, according to her lawyer. |
| But she may have done so after falling for a trick by Russian intelligence officers, her lawyer, Mark Feygin, later said. | But she may have done so after falling for a trick by Russian intelligence officers, her lawyer, Mark Feygin, later said. |
| The Ukrainian news media reported that Ms. Savchenko had agreed to drink water after receiving a letter from President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine. Mr. Feygin said he received the letter from a person he understood to be a Ukrainian consular official. Mr. Poroshenko’s office, however, issued a statement saying the president had sent no such letter but had asked only that Ms. Savchenko’s sister convey his concern and support. | The Ukrainian news media reported that Ms. Savchenko had agreed to drink water after receiving a letter from President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine. Mr. Feygin said he received the letter from a person he understood to be a Ukrainian consular official. Mr. Poroshenko’s office, however, issued a statement saying the president had sent no such letter but had asked only that Ms. Savchenko’s sister convey his concern and support. |
| Mr. Feygin now regards the letter as a forgery. “It was all subterfuge,” he said, in comments reported by the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, “and it didn’t take place without the participation of special services of the Russian Federation.” | Mr. Feygin now regards the letter as a forgery. “It was all subterfuge,” he said, in comments reported by the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, “and it didn’t take place without the participation of special services of the Russian Federation.” |
| Ms. Savchenko’s refusal to drink water had gone on for five days, through the closing arguments in her trial and her defiant final statement to the court, and she had vowed to carry on. Ms. Savchenko, a 34-year-old veteran of a Ukrainian deployment to Iraq before her more recent duties in Ukraine, was detained under unclear circumstances and is on trial in Russia for the murder of two journalists. | Ms. Savchenko’s refusal to drink water had gone on for five days, through the closing arguments in her trial and her defiant final statement to the court, and she had vowed to carry on. Ms. Savchenko, a 34-year-old veteran of a Ukrainian deployment to Iraq before her more recent duties in Ukraine, was detained under unclear circumstances and is on trial in Russia for the murder of two journalists. |
| The Russian authorities accuse her of acting as an artillery spotter and directing mortar fire at a rebel checkpoint where the television reporters were filming. Ms. Savchenko denies this. Her backers say she was captured before the mortar strike and illegally bundled across the border to Russia to stand trial. Since then, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, among others, have called for her release. | The Russian authorities accuse her of acting as an artillery spotter and directing mortar fire at a rebel checkpoint where the television reporters were filming. Ms. Savchenko denies this. Her backers say she was captured before the mortar strike and illegally bundled across the border to Russia to stand trial. Since then, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, among others, have called for her release. |
| In Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, she has become a cause célèbre, and about 2,000 people rallied in her support on Sunday. For her final statement on Wednesday, she stood on the defendants’ bench, made the lewd gesture, sang her the national anthem and called the process “the farce of Kremlin puppets.” | In Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, she has become a cause célèbre, and about 2,000 people rallied in her support on Sunday. For her final statement on Wednesday, she stood on the defendants’ bench, made the lewd gesture, sang her the national anthem and called the process “the farce of Kremlin puppets.” |
| In her comments, Ms. Savchenko dared the judge to impose the 23-year sentence prosecutors have requested. “If you want to show your strength, go ahead,” she said. “But remember, we are playing with my life. The stakes are high, and I have nothing to lose.” | In her comments, Ms. Savchenko dared the judge to impose the 23-year sentence prosecutors have requested. “If you want to show your strength, go ahead,” she said. “But remember, we are playing with my life. The stakes are high, and I have nothing to lose.” |
| Mr. Feygin said that while she has broken the dry hunger strike, she would continue to refuse food, the Ukrainian news media reported. | Mr. Feygin said that while she has broken the dry hunger strike, she would continue to refuse food, the Ukrainian news media reported. |