Parliament Demands Sanctions against Savchenko’s Persecutors

The Verkhovna Rada has called upon the EU and the US to institute personal sanctions against those involved in the abduction and imprisonment of Nadiya Savchenko.

Hromadske TV reports that 256 deputies voted for an appeal regarding sanctions against individuals involved in the persecution of the Ukrainian pilot in Russia.

“The Verkhovna Rada appeals to the European Parliament, the European Commission, PACE, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the UN, the US Congress, and the parliaments and governments of other democratic countries to immediately take all necessary measures to accelerate the implementation of personal sanctions against persons who, according to a released list, are responsible for the illegal detention of Nadiya Savchenko, member of the Standing delegation to PACE and People’s Deputy of Ukraine, in the Russian Federation,” the statement says.

The law provided a list of 35 people whom the Parliament asks for sanctions against. The list includes Russian President Vladimir Putin, his advisor Vladislav Surkov, first deputy Vyacheslav Volodin, director of the FSB Alexander Bortnikov, head of the “LNR” Igor Plotnitskiy, Russian judges and jailers, deputies, members of the Russian delegation to PACE, and the oligarchs Boris and Arkady Rotenberg.

The Ukrainian parliament, with 249 votes, also adopted an appeal to Putin to release Savchenko and add her to the list of prisoner exchanges in the framework of the Minsk agreements. The same request applies to other Ukrainian citizens detained in Ukraine and exported to Russia, such as filmmaker Oleg Sentsov.

Earlier, BBC Ukraine reported that Maria, the mother of Nadiya Savchenko, urged world leaders to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin for the release of her daughter. 

According to Interfax, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov alluded to the possibility of Savchenko’s amnesty in accordance with the provisions of the Minsk agreements.