Russia stops sister of jailed Ukrainian pilot Savchenko at border, seizes passport

Vira Savchenko was reportedly stopped and detained by Russian border guards who seized her passport as she attempted to return to Ukraine in a Ukrainian diplomatic car on April 27. The younger Savchenko was released and taken to the Ukrainian consulate in Rostov-on-Don in south-western Russia, Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's representative to the Council of Europe, said on Thursday. Kuleba said Vitaliy Moskalenko, Ukraine's consul-general in Rostov-on-Don, negotiated Vira Savchenko's release after "a heated debate with the Russians." Moskalenko was sent to the border by Kyiv to aid Vira Savchenko. Her passport had been returned to her, Kuleba added. Vira Savchenko's detention came hours after a defence attorney for her sister said Nadia had received official forms needed for her extradition to Ukraine. Russia launched a criminal case against Vira Savchenko in November, accusing her of showing "disrespect" toward a Russian judge, whom she called a "schmuck." Nadia Savchenko was sentenced by a Russian court to 22 years in jail on March 22 after she was found guilty of involvement in the killing of two Russian journalists covering the eastern Ukraine conflict in mid-2014. She denies the charge and says she was abducted and illegally brought to Russia.