NOVO-OGARYOVO. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko is under investigation and is not held illegally on the territory of Russia, Russian presidential press officer Dmitry Peskov said.
"She is not an illegally held person, she is not a POW, she is not a hostage. She is under investigation in strict accordance with current legislation," Peskov told reporters.
The decision on whether she is guilty or not will be made by a court, Peskov said.
He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin had given explanations about the situation with Savchenko in the Minsk negotiations.
According to the Russian law enforcement agencies, Savchenko was involved in the events taking place in eastern Ukraine as a member of the Ukrainian volunteer battalion Aidar. On July 8, 2014, it was reported that she was in a detention facility in Voronezh. On September 24, she was transferred to Moscow. Savchenko is charged with abetting the murder of Russian journalists in southeastern Ukraine. She denies her guilt.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko earlier said he had raised the issue of Savchenko's release in the meeting in Minsk and "was informed that it should be done after the medical evaluation is completed and after the investigators draw tentative conclusions."
The Russian president's press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Interfax on Friday that the issue of pilot Savchenko was indeed raised by President Poroshenko during the Normandy Quartet summit in Minsk and Russia made no promises, but gave explanations.