Savchenko Transferred From Hospital Back To Jail
Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko has been transferred back to a detention center in Moscow after spending just two days in a civilian hospital.
Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service said that Savchenko was sent back to prison on April 30 after doctors in the Moscow city Hospital No. 20 concluded that her health condition was "satisfactory."
The announcement came hours after Savchenko’s lawyer, Mark Feigin, said his client wanted to go back to the detention center as conditions in the "special ward" at the hospital were "substantially worse than expected" and "certainly worse" than the medical unit at Moscow's Matrosskaya Tishina pretrial detention center.
Prison authorities said on April 28 that Savchenko was moved to a civilian hospital because her health had deteriorated.
Savchenko has been jailed in Russia since last July, when she says she was illegally brought into the country after being abducted by separatists in Ukraine.
She is charged with complicity in the killing of two Russian journalists who died in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, as well as illegal border crossing.
She denies guilt and conducted a hunger strike for more than 80 days to protest her incarceration in Russia.
Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax
Top U.S. Commander Says Russian Offensive Possible In Ukraine
The top U.S. commander for NATO says Russian forces have used a recent lull in fighting in Ukraine to reposition for a possible offensive.
"Many of their actions are consistent with preparations for another offensive," Philip Breedlove told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on April 30.
Breedlove, commander of the U.S. European Command, said the situation in Ukraine is "volatile and fragile."
He said Russia is "aggressively applying all elements of national power -- diplomatic, informational, and economic, as well as military."
Breedlove said "it would not make sense" for Washington to "unnecessarily" take any of its options -- including providing weapons to Ukraine -- off the table.
Breedlove had said in March that the West should consider using all its tools to help Ukraine in its fight against Russian-backed separatists, including sending defensive weapons.
Based on reporting by AP and eucom.mil
Kiev says Putin open to peacekeeping mission in east Ukraine
Kiev, April 30, 2015 (AFP) -- The Ukrainian presidency on Thursday said Russian President Vladimir Putin was open to the deployment of a peacekeeping mission in war-torn eastern Ukraine, after the leaders of both countries spoke by phone with their French and German counterparts.
"In the context of the discussion of ways towards a peaceful resolution (of the conflict), President Putin has accepted the possibility of deploying a peacekeeping contingent to the Donbass region," the presidency said in a statement.
And then there's this ...
Kremlin statement on Ukraine does not mention peacekeeper proposal
Moscow, April 30, 2015 (AFP) -- A Kremlin statement on Thursday did not mention a claim by Kiev that President Vladimir Putin is open to sending a peacekeeping force to eastern Ukraine following a phone conversation between the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany.
The statement said that the leaders "noted certain progress on issues of how to ensure a ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons in the conflict zone."
Flash from Reuters:
RUSSIA'S KREMLIN SAYS PUTIN, MERKEL, POROSHENKO, HOLLANDE NOTED CERTAIN PROGRESS IN CEASEFIRE, WITHDRAWAL OF HEAVY WEAPONS FROM EASTERN UKRAINE DURING TELEPHONE CONFERENCE
More from RFE/RL's News Desk:
Russia Says Western Leaders Note Progress In Cease-Fire In Ukraine
The Kremlin says that Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko have noted "certain progress" in a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine during a telephone conversation.
The leaders of four countries also noted progress in the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the region, the Kremlin said in a statement.
However, the Kremlin statement did not mention a claim by Kyiv that Putin is open to sending a peacekeeping force to eastern Ukraine following the phone conversation on April 30.
The Ukrainian presidency statement said, "In the context of the discussion of ways towards a peaceful resolution [of the conflict], President Putin has accepted the possibility of deploying a peacekeeping contingent to the Donbas region."
The French presidency also made no mention of peacekeepers, saying in a statement that the parties had reviewed the implementation of the peace accords and "considered areas for improvement."