Savchenko’s detention could be extended

MOSCOW – A court in Moscow was considering on May 6 whether to extend the pretrial detention of Ukrainian pilot and Verkhovna Rada National Deputy Nadia Savchenko. The hearing came a day after Ms. Savchenko’s lawyer announced that Russian authorities extended their preliminary inquiry into her case until November 13. Ms. Savchenko has been jailed in Russia since July, when she says she was illegally brought into the country after being abducted by Russian-backed separatists in eastern 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. (RFE/RL, with reporting by Reuters, the Associated Press, Deutsche Presse-Agentur and TASS)