A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko to 22 years in jail after finding her guilty of involvement in the killing of two Russian journalists during the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. 


The sentence is likely to further inflame Russia's already dire relations with Kiev, and prompt protests from the European Union, which has called for Savchenko's release. 


Savchenko, a 34-year-old who has become a national hero at home in Ukraine, was defiant as the verdict was read out, singing the Ukrainian national anthem while standing on a bench. 


She has denied having anything to do with the deaths of the journalists. 


Russian officials have signaled that, once the trial is over, they may be open to negotiations about handing Savchenko over to Ukraine, possibly as part of a prisoner exchange. Kiev is holding at least two people it says are serving Russian soldiers seized on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine. 


Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin wrote on Twitter: "The result is an expected one, but all the same it's pretty painful ... The 'sentence' is not the end of struggle. It's the beginning of a new stage in the fight for Savchenko

Source: NNA