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Ukrainian Pilot Freed From Russian Incarceration in Prisoner Swap

Nadezhda Savchenko
Nadezhda Savchenko / AP
May 25, 2016

A Ukrainian helicopter pilot known as the nation’s "Joan of Arc" was freed Wednesday after two years of imprisonment in exchange for two Russian servicemen.

The high-level prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine was seen as a step forward in negotiations regarding the territory dispute over Crimea.

"I am free," the pilot, Lt. Nadiya Savchenko, told reporters on the tarmac in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, after her plane touched down. The BBC dubbed her the "symbol of resistance against Moscow."

A Russian court sentenced her to 22 years for murder, charges that she vehemently denied. The two Russian prisoners, who Ukrainian officials claimed were members of Russia’s intelligence service, were meanwhile sentenced to 14 years on terrorism and weapons charges.

The Washington Post reported:

Savchenko and the two Russians, Capt. Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Sgt. Alexander Alexandrov, were all captured during fighting in southeast Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have carved out an unrecognized statelet after two years of war with Kiev. Ukrainian officials said that the two Russians were proof that Moscow was managing the conflict in southeast Ukraine and continuing to send men and materiel to destabilize the new government. In Russia, Savchenko was portrayed as a nationalist and convicted of abetting the murder of two Russian journalists in an artillery strike.

The families of the deceased journalists reportedly petitioned Russian President Vladimir Putin to pardon Savchenko.

Putin and Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko signed the official pardons Wednesday.

Poroshenko announced Savchenko’s release on Twitter, writing, "The presidential plan with Hero of Ukraine Nadiya Savchenko has landed!"

Savchenko gained prominence prior to the war, arising as Ukraine’s first female military pilot. She was elected to the nation’s parliament in October 2014 while she was imprisoned in Russia.