UKRAINE
SERGEY DOLZHENKO
Kiev, Ukraine— Nadia Savchenko, a Ukrainian pilot held prisoner by Russia for two years, smokes during a press conference on May 27, two days after she was released in return for two Russian special forces officers. She was captured while fighting Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and taken to Russia, where she was sentenced to 22 years in prison for complicity in the deaths of two Russian journalists. After her return, she called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “louse” and “scum,” and hinted at a political future: “Let’s put it this way: Ukrainians, if you need me to be the president, OK, I will be president.”