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Photos Ukrinform/UATV
Ex-head of the Officer Corps center for the exchange of prisoners of war, Volodymyr Ruban, who was released on April 16 from pretrial confinement, left Ukraine, the press service of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) has said.
“He left Ukraine,” the PGO’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine reported, noting the court did not remand him to custody.
Oleh Slobodian, an adviser to the head of the State Border Service, said that the State Border Service cannot comment on information regarding the crossing of the state border by individuals.
Brovary Court of Kyiv Region had decided to release Volodymyr Ruban and Nadiya Savchenko from custody, according to the Novoye Vremya online news site as reported by Ukrinform.
The court made the decision because the terms of their preventive measure had expired, and a new one had not been chosen.
Ruban was arrested at the Mayorske checkpoint in Donbas on March 8 last year. According to law enforcement authorities, he had tried to bring a large batch of weapons out of the occupied territory of the Donetsk region. He was suspected of illicit handling of weapons and plotting terrorist attacks, including armed attacks on state officials and political leaders.
Ruban denied all the accusations against him.
Savchenko, who was in the army as an aviation pilot, fought on the frontlines after the war with Russian-backed separatists started and was abducted by Russia soon after.
She was elected to parliament as a part of the opposition, while she was still held in Russia. She soon became a critic of outgoing President Petro Poroshenko’s government after her return. She was heavily criticized after she held talks with Russian-backed separatists without any government consent.
On March 15, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko abruptly accused Savchenko of plotting to destroy the Rada’s roof with mortar shells and kill surviving lawmakers with assault rifles.
Savchenko denies the allegations and said that the officers who are now accusing her, were the ones who encouraged her to overthrow the government, and she went along with their suggestions to trick them and expose them. Ruban also maintained that he was framed.
Savchenko was considered to be Ruban’s accomplice. On March 22, 2018, the Verkhovna Rada agreed to strip her of parliamentary immunity, as well as to prosecute, detain, and arrest her. She was arrested on the same day.
Savchenko also denied the accusations against her.
“I wish freedom to everyone who was unfairly convicted. I don’t violate the rules, I don’t run abroad, as prosecutors guaranteed. I don’t escape from Ukraine because I’m a Hero of Ukraine. Ukraine is not just a word for me. I will fight for Ukraine,” she said.
Savchenko has returned to parliament to work.
