Savchenko's Return to Ukraine - a Top Topic in International Media

• 05.27.2016, 11:45
•  Europe,  World

Sputnik / Scanpix / LETA

Russian President Vladimir Putin granted amnesty to Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko in exchange with the two Russian war prisoners. This instantly became a top topic both in Russian and Ukrainian media, as well as in Western one. Referring to the extradition process, both Reuters and Guardian in particular pay attention to the fact that Putin signed the decision to release Savchenko a few days before the decision on the extension of the EU sanctions against Russia.

"On Wednesday, Russia and Ukraine have exchanged their well-known war prisoners, which can contribute to the effectiveness of negotiations on Eastern Ukraine's conflict," The New York Times writes, adding that the exchange, as well as the diplomacy over the two-year conflict, has been well staged in order to prove that Russia does not participate in that war.

"Savchenko's return to Ukraine does not change Kremlin’s target. But now it will be interesting to see which Ukrainian political forces will be under the focus of Savchenko’s anger. It is known that she sided with the nationalist camp," BBC reports.

It should be recalled that during her stay in Ukraine Savchenko was elected to the Ukrainian parliament from Temashenko’s party, BBC indicated that a conflict may arise between them, as both of them are strong personalities.

"Today Nadezhda Savchenko is a monkey with grenade. Where and when the grenade will explode, nobody knows," Russian REGNUM writes, stressing that Savchenko’s behavior is not adequate, but Kiev has to get along with it since they have already managed to make a heroine out of her.

In its turn, Vzglyad writes that Russia will only benefit from Savchenko's release. According to the Russian newspaper, the only negative side of Savchenko’s amnesty is its domestic political character for Russians, because in Russia not everyone agrees with the decision of amnesty.