Savchenko Back in Russian Pretrial Detention Center After Hospital

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Ukrainian citizen Nadezhda Savchenko, accused of killing Russian journalists and awaiting trial in Moscow, was returned to a pretrial detention center after being released from a civilian hospital where she was under observation due to a hunger strike, the Russian State Penitentiary System’s press center told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

“After the results of clinical and laboratory tests, a doctor’s consortium deemed Nadezhda Savchenko’s health to be satisfactory,” the press center said.

Savchenko was admitted to the 20th City Hospital in Moscow on Tuesday to undergo observation after she had been on a hunger strike while in detention, losing eight kilograms (18 pounds).

“Since [there] was no reason for N. Savchenko to remain in the city hospital, she has been transferred to the medical ward of the State Penitentiary Facility Number 1 in Moscow,” the press center said.

Savchenko has been in pretrial detention in Russia since summer 2014, as a suspected accomplice in the killing of two Russian journalists during early stages of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

As a result of a mortar attack in which Savchenko is accused of participating, two Russian journalists, Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin, were fatally wounded near the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk on June 17, 2014.

In February 2015, Savchenko’s pretrial detention was extended until May 13.