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Ukrainian pilot on trial in Russia goes on hunger strike

Ukrainian jailed military officer Nadezhda Savchenko listens to her lawyer Ilya Novikov as she stands in a glass cage during a court hearing in a town of Donetsk, Rostov-on-Don region, Russia, on Thursday, March 3, 2016. Lawyers for Savchenko on trial as an accessory to murder said they expect her to be found guilty and that she has asked the court to follow the sentence sought by prosecutors. Savchenko is asking for the 23 years called for because if the court imposes a lighter sentence, authorities could appeal it, lawyer Ilya Novikov was quoted as saying Wednesday by the Tass news agency. (AP Photo) Ukrainian jailed military officer Nadezhda Savchenko listens to her lawyer Ilya Novikov as she stands in a glass cage during a court hearing in a town of Donetsk, Rostov-on-Don region, Russia, on Thursday, March 3, 2016. Lawyers for Savchenko on trial as an accessory to murder said they expect her to be found guilty and that she has asked the court to follow the sentence sought by prosecutors. Savchenko is asking for the 23 years called for because if the court imposes a lighter sentence, authorities could appeal it, lawyer Ilya Novikov was quoted as saying Wednesday by the Tass news agency. (AP Photo)

By Associated Press March 3, 2016 1 min read

DONETSK, Russia (AP) – A Ukrainian pilot on trial in Russia says she is going on hunger strike.

Nadezhda Savchenko, on trial in the Russian border town of Donetsk for her alleged involvement in the deaths of two Russian journalists, was fighting in a volunteer battalion against Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine when she was captured in June 2014.

Russian authorities say Savchenko provided the Ukrainian army with coordinates for an attack that killed the journalists and several other civilians. The Ukrainian government says she was abducted and should be treated as a prisoner of war.

Savchenko announced on Thursday that she would go on hunger strike after the judge adjourned the hearings until next week.

Prosecutors on Wednesday asked the court to sentence her to 23 years in prison.