Ukrainian Prosecutor's Office submitted indictment against separatist leader
The Prosecutor's Office sent an indictment to the court regarding the conviction in absentia of the ‘head’ of the so-called ‘Luhansk People`s Republic’ (LPR), Igor Plotnitsky, for the kidnapping of Ukrainian pilot, Nadiya Savchenko, as stated by the Press Service of the Prosecutor's Office of Kiev.
"The Prosecutor's Office of Kiev approved and sent to the court an indictment against the so-called ‘ex-Defense Minister of the LPR’, Igor Plotnitsky, for the commission of a terrorist act, and the abduction and holding hostage of a Senior Lieutenant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Nadiya Savchenko," the statement reads.
As noted, the pre-trial investigation found that in early May 2014 Plotnitsky created and headed the illegally armed formation ‘Zarya.’ Then he was subsequently declared the ‘Minister of Defence of the LPR.’
"On the 17th of June 2014, according to the indictment, Plotnitsky headed a group of illegally armed separatists and committed an armed attack on the soldiers of the 24th Battalion of the Territorial Defense ‘Aydar’ of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. ‘Aydar’ had been involved in anti-terrorist operations in the Luhansk Oblast region. During the confrontation, the terrorists managed to capture a Senior Lieutenant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Nadiya Savchenko, and take her to Luhansk, where she was held at the Regional Military Commissariat for a long time," the statement reads.
As previously reported, late in the evening of the 23th of June, Nadiya Savchenko illegally, and against her will and with an armed escort, was transferred across the state border of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.
"According to the results of the special pre-trial investigation, Plotnitsky is under suspicion of committing criminal offenses under part 3 of Article 146 (illegal imprisonment or kidnapping), part 2 of Article 258 (terrorist act) and part 3 of Article 332 (illegal transportation of persons across the state border of Ukraine) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," the statement reads.
As previously reported, the Donetsk City Court of the Rostov Region, Russian Federation, sentenced the Ukrainian pilot, Nadiya Savchenko, to a 22-year prison term.