Nadiya Freed!

From the BBC:

"Nadiya Savchenko: Russia frees Ukraine servicewoman"

Russia has freed jailed Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who became a symbol of resistance against Moscow. "I am free," Savchenko told a crowd of reporters and politicians as she arrived in Kiev as part of a prisoner swap with two alleged Russian soldiers. She was sentenced to 22 years in jail for killing two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine, charges she denied. The two Russians - Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov - were earlier flown from Kiev to Moscow. Savchenko was pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin before her return to Ukraine. In Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko pardoned the two Russian nationals. In a tweet (in Ukrainian) earlier on Wednesday, Mr Poroshenko wrote: "The presidential plane with Hero of Ukraine Nadiya Savchenko has landed!"  Speaking to reporters at Kiev's Boryspil airport, Savchenko was in defiant mood. "I am ready to once again give my life for Ukraine on the battlefield," she said. At a joint news conference with President Poroshenko later on Wednesday, Savchenko thanked her family and the people of Ukraine for supporting her while she was held in Russia. "Ukraine has the right to be, and it will be!" she said, pledging to do everything she could to free all Ukrainian nationals still being kept prisoner in Russia and in parts of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian rebels.  Meanwhile, President Poroshenko - who awarded Savchenko a Hero of Ukraine star - said: "This is our common victory!"  He also personally thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and US President Barack Obama for supporting Ukraine.  

^ Again the will and determination of the Ukrainian people - even against overwhelming odds (ie Russia) - continues to be strong and surprise the world. I have lived in Russia and do not believe that the majority of Russians would give up as much as the Ukrainians have. They (the Russians) would just put their heads down and not "rock the boat" as they have for centuries. The Ukrainians have survived being part of the Czarist Empire, the Soviet Union, the Nazi occupation and now are going through the Russian annexation of the Crimea and Russian-backed forces in the Donbass. The Ukrainians have proven they deserve to be independent and won't give that up so easily. ^

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36378173