Protesters across Ukraine continue to demand Savchenko's release
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 9 March 2016 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Protesters across Ukraine continue to demand Savchenko's release, 9 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfccc.html [accessed 3 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
March 09, 2016
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
Activists clash with police at the Russian Consulate during a rally in support of Savchenko in Odesa on March 9.
Protesters across Ukraine have continued to demand the release of Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko from Russian custody.
Police in the Black Sea port city of Odesa used tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators on March 9 after they pelted the Russian Consulate with eggs and painted the building's door red.
Protesters in Odesa also burned an effigy of Russian President Vladimir Putin in front of the consulate.
In the western city of Lviv, about 200 protesters threw eggs, stones, and small bottles of iodine at the Russian Consulate – leaving difficult-to-remove brown stains on the building.
Demonstrators also threw paper planes with the inscription "Free Savchenko."
A smoke bomb was also thrown onto the Russian Consulate grounds in Lviv.
Protests calling for Savchenko's release were also held in Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Cherkasy, and other Ukrainian cities.
Savchenko is awaiting the reading of a verdict on March 21 in a Russian court where she has been put on trial in connection with the deaths in 2014 of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine.
Savchenko insists she was kidnapped and illegally transported into Russia where she is facing what Ukrainian, U.S., and European Union officials have described as a political show trial.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
