Nadiya Savchenko's mother reaches Rostov-on-Don to say happy birthday to daughter - former Ukrainian MP
Maria Savchenko, mother of Nadia Savchenko, the Ukrainian pilot convicted in Russia, has arrived in Russia's Rostov-on-Don to wish happy birthday to her daughter this Wednesday, according to Andriy Pavlovsky, a former Ukrainian member of parliament.
"After all, we took devious paths, together with Maria Ivanovna [Savchenko] and MP Valeriy Dubil [of the Batkivschyna faction], to get to Rostov. We hope that tomorrow, Nadia Savchenko's mother can wish happy birthday to her daughter," Pavlovsky wrote on his Facebook page, on Tuesday.
Pavlovsky also posted a photograph featuring Maria Savchenko, and Ukraine's Consul in Rostov-on-Don, Oleksandr Kovtun.
"During the long journey, Maria Ivanovna was telling how Nadia would steel herself and put herself through a test. For example, Nadia jumped off the Moskovsky Bridge [in Kyiv, 119 meters high] to mark her 22nd birthday. Friends, let us wish Nadia many happy returns of the day of May 11," Pavlovsky wrote.
Nadia Savchenko turns 35 on May 11.
Savchenko has been held in Russian custody since July 2014 after being kidnapped by Russia-backed separatists and illegally taken across the Ukrainian border.
On March 22, the Donetsk City Court in Russia's Rostov region found Savchenko guilty of killing of Russian journalists Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin, and sentenced her to 22 years in prison. The court also found her guilty of attempted murder, and illegal border crossing.
Late in April, Savchenko and her lawyer Nikolai Polozov, filled out the documents for her extradition to Ukraine. Her other lawyer, Mark Feygin, said that while filling out the documentation, Savchenko refused to admit her guilt. "When she was filling out the documents, Nadia made no admission of guilt," her lawyer said.