Savchenko met with separatists in the Donbas
Speaking at a PACE session, Verkhovna Rada MP and former prisoner Nadiya Savchenko stated that she was recently in separatist-held territory and met with the people who had held her captive for two years.
“For those who want to understand and know what is happening in the Donbas, in the occupied territory where I was held pretty recently, I met with people who quite recently held me captive—these people realized what Russia is and what they’re dealing with,” she said.
According to Savchenko, about 70% of the people in the Donbas and even those who held her captive regret taking up arms and would like to come back to Ukraine, though the current conditions make it difficult.
“Because a commander of army in the so-called LPR/DPR is a Russian officer and people are serving in these units because there is poverty in these occupied territories… to be able to eat, people would serve in the Russian army for 15,000 rubles [239 USD],” she explained.