MOSCOW (AP) – Nadiya Savchenko, the military pilot who became a national hero when she was jailed in Russia, faced a backlash Friday for saying reconciliation was the only solution to conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Savchenko’s comments irked many Ukrainian politicians, with some calling her a traitor.
“We are not going to ask occupying forces and terrorists for forgiveness,” said Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the interior minister. “Now I know: it was Putin who planted her in the minds of Ukrainians as a Trojan horse.”
Speaking on Ukraine’s Channel 5, Savchenko said late Thursday that Ukrainians “need to ask for forgiveness” or there will be no end to the conflict in eastern Ukraine which has claimed more than 9,400 lives and displaced over a million people since it erupted in April 2014.
Savchenko fought on the government side in the war with Russia-backed rebels and was captured in June 2014. She was then put on trial in Russia for involvement in the deaths of two journalists and spent two years in prison before she was pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin and returned home to a hero’s welcome in May this year.