Mark Franchetti, Moscow
She defiantly told the judge at her
Russian trial that she would return home to Ukraine dead or alive.
As the helicopter pilot Nadia Savchenko
prepares to walk free from prison, her compatriots are preparing to celebrate
the return of a national heroine some are tipping to be Ukraine’s next
president.
“Everyone’s manoeuvring to get close to
Savchenko,” said a former adviser to the Ukrainian government. “Given her
unique standing with the people, she’s political gold dust.”
Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian president,
negotiated her release with Vladimir Putin, his Russian counterpart, as part of
a prisoner exchange.
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