Convicted Of Murder In Deaths Of Two Russian Journalist In Ukraine

Russian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko has been convicted of murder in Russia in connection with the deaths of two Ukrainian journalists in July, 2014.

NPR reports that Savchenko (pictured) was accused of directing the artillery fire that killed the two journalists covering the conflict there. The conviction comes despite assertions by Savchenko's defense attorneys who say cell phone records "prove she was captured by separatists militia fighters at least an hour before these journalists were killed."

Savchenko said that the trial was being used as propaganda by the Russians. She had been well known in Ukraine as one of the country's first female combat pilots, and had been fighting as a volunteer against the Russian-backed separatists when she was captured.

Savchenko began to loudly sing a patriotic Ukrainian song as the judge read her guilty verdict.

The BBC reports that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko released a statement saying that Ukraine would not recognize the "so-called" verdict. He offered to trade two Russian soldiers being held in Ukraine for Savchenko.

The U.S. State Department said through spokesperson John Kirby that the conviction shows Russia's "blatant disregard for the principles of justice."

(Image from file)

FMI: www.state.gov