President asks Washington and Brussels to help hunger-striking pilot

KIEV, March 7 - President Petro Poroshenko called on Washington and Brussels on Monday to step up pressure on Moscow to secure the release of a hunger-striking Ukrainian pilot from a Russian jail, AFP reported.
The EU described reports of the hunger strike as "extremely worrisome" and called for the immediate release of 34-year-old Nadiya Savchenko.

"Russia bears responsibility for the health, well-being and observance of the human rights of all persons it detains," an EU spokeswoman added.

Three Nobel Prize laureates are among thousands of people who have signed a petition urging European leaders "to take emergency measures" to seek Savchenko's return home.

The helicopter pilot is standing trial for alleged involvement in the 2014 death of two Russian journalists in war-scarred eastern Ukraine .

She faces up to 23 years in prison if convicted in a trial that has drawn global attention and been attended by Western monitors concerned about Russia 's allegedly deteriorating record on human rights.

Savchenko denies the charges and has refused all food and drink since her hearing was adjourned on Thursday before she was given a chance to make a final statement.

Poroshenko wrote on Facebook that " Ukraine has sent a letter to EU nations and the United States with the request to intensify their pressure on Russia aimed at securing our Nadiya's release."

He added that Savchenko was also visited in her southern Russian detention centre on Monday by Ukraine 's consul general.

Ukraine 's Hromadske Radio's website afterwards posted a hand-written note that was signed by Savchenko and dated Monday.

"Whether dead or alive, I have already won," said the message.

"I will leave jail on my own terms, showing the entire world that Russia may be forced into submission if you remain as fearless and unyielding as me."

Savchenko's case is seen by many Ukrainians as a symbol of resistance against what Kiev 's pro-Western leaders view as Russia 's aggression in the eastern industrial heartland of the former Soviet state.

Her fate has also sparked concern among Western governments and leading human rights groups.

"The Russian authorities have made a mockery of civil rights, international law, and their own Constitution."
US State Department spokesman John Kirby stressed on Thursday that Savchenko "needs to be released.”

Prosecutors argue that Savchenko helped Ukrainian forces locate and direct mortar fire at two Russian state television journalists in the separatist region of Lugansk.

She counters that she was in the area of the attack incidentally and was kidnapped and smuggled into Russia.

Savchenko's supporters especially fear that her refusal to drink may irreparably damage her health or even kill her before her next hearing on Wednesday.

One of Savchenko's Russian attorneys said his client was already suffering from "an accelerated heart beat, swelling legs and jumps in temperature."

"She is still forbidding Russian doctors from performing any tests or medical procedures," lawyer Nikolai Polozov wrote on Facebook. (afp/ez)