US Calls on Russia to Release Savchenko: State Department

Spokeswoman for the US Department of State said that Washington urges Moscow to release Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko.

WASHINGTON, January 7 (Sputnik) — Washington urges Moscow to release Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko who went on hunger strike more than 20 days ago, said Jen Psaki, spokeswoman for the US Department of State.

"We understand that Ms. Savchenko is on hunger strike to protest the terms of her detention and is suffering additional health problems," Psaki told reporters Tuesday. "We call on her immediate release."

Savchenko is tried in Russia over her suspected role in the killing of two Russian reporters in Ukraine. Russian investigative officers believe that she was a fire spotter during a mortar attack near the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk on June 17.

Psaki also noted that Washington welcomes the exchange of prisoners between Kiev and militia in eastern Ukraine that took place in December, when the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) handed over 145 prisoners to Kiev, while Ukrainian forces transferred 222 people to DPR.

Kiev and independence supporters in Ukraine's south-east agreed to an "all-for-all" prisoner exchange during a Contact Group meeting mediated by Russia and the OSCE in Minsk, Belarus in September. Since then, the two sides have conducted several rounds of prisoner exchanges.