Image copyright AFP Image caption Ms Savchenko went from parliament to the SBU security service building in Kiev

One of Ukraine's most famous MPs, Nadiya Savchenko, has been arrested on suspicion of planning an assault on parliament and supporting a coup.

The ex-military helicopter pilot was detained in parliament after MPs viewed evidence against her and voted to remove her immunity from prosecution.

She has not denied the charges.

She had been feted as a national hero after spending nearly two years in a Russian jail. She was captured fighting rebels in eastern Ukraine.

On Thursday MPs watched a video of her talking to two officers about plans to attack parliament.

She smiled and laughed in response, and did not question the authenticity of the video. She said Ukraine's "corrupt" government did need to be overthrown, but described the plot as a "provocation".

Image copyright AFP Image caption Ms Savchenko was jailed in southern Russia over the deaths of two Russian journalists

She was granted Ukraine's highest award - the Order of the Gold Star - after her release from jail in Russia in 2016 as part of a prisoner swap.

But on Thursday Ukraine's chief prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko told MPs that Ms Savchenko, 36, planned "a large-scale terrorist act" in Kiev.

He accused her of doing a deal with the Russian-backed rebels to "obtain the weapons necessary for such an attack, in particular 120mm calibre mortars, small arms, sniper rifles, combat grenades".

In April 2014, pro-Russian insurgents seized a large swathe of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, and later declared self-rule, defying the Kiev government.

Ms Savchenko was captured in the region and sentenced to 22 years in jail in Russia for killing two Russian journalists, charges she denied.

She was pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin before her return to Ukraine.

Clashes continue in eastern Ukraine between the rebels and Ukrainian government forces, despite a ceasefire deal. Ukraine and its Western partners accuse Russia of backing the rebels with regular troops and heavy weapons - something Moscow denies.</s>March 22 (UPI) -- Ukrainian authorities arrested MP Nadia Savchenko, a former military pilot released from Russian captivity in 2016, Thursday on allegations she plotted to overthrow the government.

The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, voted to remove Savchenko's immunity from prosecution after they viewed a video purporting to show her talking to two officers about plans to attack the legislative body.

Savchenko didn't deny the allegations, saying the "corrupt" government should be overthrown. Still, she said the plot was a "provocation," the BBC reported.

Ukraine's chief prosecutor, Yuriy Lutsenko, said Savchenko tried to make a deal with Russian-backed rebels to obtain weapons including sniper rifles and grenades. Lutsenko said she may be subjected to a forced psychiatric evaluation.

"The court and only the court will determine if these accusations are right [...] Of course, after a judicial action called 'forced psychiatric evaluation," he said.

Savchenko, 36, was released in a prison swap between Russia and Ukraine in May 2016. A Russian court had sentenced the helicopter pilot to 22 years in prison for the deaths of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine by reporting their coordinates to a Ukrainian artillery battalion.

Savchenko emphatically denied the charges and became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance against Russia.</s>A Ukrainian MP who was once hailed as a symbol of resistance against Russia but now stands accused of plotting a terrorist attack in Kiev was stripped of her immunity by parliament on Thursday.

Nadiya Savchenko planned "a large-scale terrorist act in the centre of the Ukrainian capital," general prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko told lawmakers in parliament.

He claimed she had made a deal with leaders of Russian-backed separatist republics in the country's east to "obtain the weapons necessary for such an attack, in particular mortars of 120 mm caliber, small arms, sniper rifles, combat grenades".

Lutsenko said the planned attack would have brought a "sea of blood, chaos" to central Kiev.

He also showed lawmakers a 30-minute video of a woman who looked like Savchenko talking to two apparently Ukrainian officers about plans to attack parliament.

The parliament authorised the lifting of immunity and, in a separate vote, the arrest of Savchenko by 268 votes to 10, minutes after Lutsenko's speech.

In 2014, the 36-year-old former combat pilot was captured while fighting against Kremlin-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and found guilty of involvement in the killing of two Russian journalists in the country's war-torn east.

She spent around two years in a Russian prison and became a symbol of Ukraine's resistance, launching several hunger strikes.

Savchenko returned to a hero's welcome to Kiev in May, 2016 as part of a prisoner swap with Russia.

But her political star has faded since her return to Kiev, where she became a lawmaker for former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko's political party.

She has regularly stirred controversy and contradicted President Petro Poroshenko's policies by supporting direct talks with pro-Kremlin separatists and visiting rebel-held territory.</s>Ukrainian MP Nadiya Savchenko, once hailed as a symbol of resistance against Russia, was detained on Thursday over accusations she plotted a terrorist attack in Kiev, authorities said.

"She was detained after the prosecutor general read out her indictment," the prosecutor's spokesman Andriy Lysenko told AFP by phone hours after lawmakers voted to lift Savchenko's immunity from prosecution.

Savchenko had planned "a large-scale terrorist act in the centre of the Ukrainian capital," general prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko told lawmakers in parliament earlier.

He claimed she had made a deal with leaders of Russian-backed separatist republics in the country's east to "obtain the weapons necessary for such an attack, in particular mortars of 120 mm caliber, small arms, sniper rifles, combat grenades".

Lutsenko said the planned attack would have brought a "sea of blood, chaos" to central Kiev.

He showed lawmakers a 30-minute video of a woman who looked like Savchenko talking to two apparently Ukrainian officers about plans to attack parliament.

"I propose a coup d'etat, they should be eliminated physically, all of them in one moment," said a woman resembling Savchenko in the video, before drawing a plan of parliament to explain where to throw grenades inside the building to create an explosion.

"Just one person can do it in a minute and a half...I myself will certainly be able to throw six grenades," the woman in the video said.

Savchenko was present in the chamber during the video broadcast and watched it with a smile, but did not provide any explanation.

The parliament approved lifting Savchenko's immunity from prosecution as an MP and, in a separate vote, authorised her arrest by 268 votes to 10, minutes after Lutsenko's speech.

In 2014, the 36-year-old former combat pilot was captured while fighting against Kremlin-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and found guilty of involvement in the killing of two Russian journalists in the country's war-torn east.

She spent around two years in a Russian prison and became a symbol of Ukraine's resistance, launching several hunger strikes.

Savchenko returned to a hero's welcome to Kiev in May, 2016 as part of a prisoner swap with Russia.

But her political star has faded since her return to Kiev, where she became a lawmaker for former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko's political party.

She has regularly stirred controversy and contradicted President Petro Poroshenko's policies by supporting direct talks with pro-Kremlin separatists and visiting rebel-held territory.</s>Authorities in Ukraine have arrested Nadiya Savchenko, an ex-combat pilot who became a member of parliament after spending nearly two years in a Russian jail, on charges she was planning to carry out a coup.

According to the allegations, Savchenko planned an attack on parliament using grenades and automatic weapons acquired from pro-Russian separatists in the east.

General Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko on Thursday told parliament about the alleged plot, after which legislators voted to remove her political immunity.

"The plan was to overthrow the constitutional system by carrying out terrorist attacks on Kiev's central government quarter ... using weapons received from the leaders of the so-called DNR," Lutsenk said, referring to Donetsk People's Republic.

However, Savchenko, an outspoken critic of the Ukrainian government, claimed it was a plot by undercover agents working for the Ukrainian government to discredit her.

She said she knowingly went along with the agents in order to reveal the scheme to the public.

"This is not a terrorist act, this is a political provocation to make the authorities look ridiculous," Savchenko said in a statement.

"To accuse me of treason against Ukraine ... and to make anti-heroes out of yesterday's heroes simply because they do not agree with the policies and positions of the current government, that’s all the authorities can do," she said.

She also accused authorities of betraying the ideals of the 2014 revolution during which pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovich was overthrown.

Savchenko said that if the current situation in Ukraine continues, "the danger in parliament won’t be me, your danger will be your people".

Savchenko, an ex-military helicopter pilot, became famous in 2014 when she was captured by Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine and sentenced to 22 years in prison for her alleged role in the deaths of two Russian journalists in the conflict zone.

Her refusal to bend after nearly two years in Russian custody made her a national hero in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned her in 2016 as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen jailed in Ukraine.

Savchenko's demeanour during her ordeal in Russia earned her the nickname of Ukraine's "Joan of Arc".

After her return, she was awarded the Star of the Hero of Ukraine award and became an opposition figure in the Ukrainian parliament.</s>Ukrainian MP Nadezhda Savchenko, once glorified as a Ukrainian “hero” persecuted by Moscow, has been detained again – this time by her fellow countrymen. The former pilot is now suspected of plotting a coup and a terrorist attack.

Savchenko was arrested by Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) officers right in the building of the Verkhovnaya Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) on Thursday. Moments before that, the MPs stripped Savchenko of her legal immunity that allows Ukrainian MPs to enjoy protection from prosecution and agreed to her arrest.

The lawmakers were shown a video obtained by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office that allegedly shows Savchenko discussing details of a coup plot with her accomplices. According to the video, the MP even planned to assassinate Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. She is suspected of plotting a terrorist attack, planning to kill members of parliament, government, and the president, and organizing a coup.

Savchenko’s sister, Vera, said she expects Ukraine’s international “partners” and particularly the US to react to her sister’s arrest. “I would like to look at the reaction of those people, who fought for her [Nadezhda Savchenko], of the US representatives… I would like to see the reaction of these people to the actions of our corrupt authorities,” she told journalists, adding that the US strongly warned against corruption in Ukraine, yet nothing was done.

Savchenko first rose to prominence both in Ukraine and in the West after she was arrested in Russia on charges of being an accessory to the murder of two Russian journalists who were killed by mortar shelling while reporting on the Ukrainian conflict. Russian law enforcement said she served as a target spotter for the mortar crew and deliberately had them target non-combatants.

Following her arrest in Russia, Savchenko was immediately declared a hero of Ukraine. She was elected as an MP in absentia, appointed a member of Ukraine’s delegation to PACE and made into a symbol of struggle against Russia at a time when she was tried and actually sentenced to 22 years in prison for the crime. The Western media also portrayed her as a heroic figure persecuted by Moscow.

Savchenko was pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin and returned to Ukraine in May 2016.

But things changed for the former hero after she become a fierce critic of President Petro Poroshenko, talked about running for president, and acted on her own in an effort to make a deal with self-proclaimed independent republics in the East. She then quickly alienated many Ukrainian politicians.

On Thursday, Savchenko came to the hearing of her case in the parliament with two grenades. She admitted that she helped smuggle weapons from Donbass and said that a coup is the “the most humane way of changing the power.” She claimed that “only a lazy person now does not” speak or think about “taking down that government” or “blowing up” the president’s administration or the parliament. Yet, Savchenko called her actions “surrealism and political provocation,” and she didn’t actually intend to carry out the plan.

Savchenko’s confrontation with authorities snowballed over the last week. The prosecutors initially wanted to question Savchenko over alleged links to a man named Vladimir Ruban, who was earlier arrested while trying to smuggle a large cache of weapons from the rebel-controlled part of eastern Ukraine into territory that remains under Kiev’s control. The Ukrainian authorities claim that Ruban was also planning an armed coup in Kiev.

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yury Lutsenko requested that the Verkhovna Rada strip Savchenko of legal immunity last week after she failed to show up for a scheduled questioning. Earlier, the MP accused Lutsenko of covering up his involvement in the deadly 2014 Maidan shooting, which was one of the factors that eventually prompted the Maidan coup. She also accused several Ukrainian MPs of leading the snipers to the Hotel Ukraine, from which shots were later fired at people on the streets, thus implying that the 2014 mass killings might in fact have been initiated by the protester side.</s>MOSCOW (AP) - A Ukrainian court on Friday sanctioned the arrest of a celebrated former military pilot accused of plotting an attack on parliament with grenades and automatic weapons.

Nadiya Savchenko, who has declared presidential ambitions, described the charges against her as an attempt by President Petro Poroshenko's government to get rid of a powerful challenger ahead of the next year's presidential vote.

The Shevchenko District Court in the Ukrainian capital on Friday ordered that she be kept behind bars for two months pending an official probe. The ruling followed parliament's vote to strip her of her immunity as a lawmaker.

Prosecutors have accused Savchenko of plotting a coup in collusion with Russia-backed rebels - a plan to attack parliament with hand grenades, automatic weapons and even heavy mortars.

Savchenko said she talked about attacking parliament as a "surrealist political provocation" to mock the government because she knew she was being wiretapped.

Savchenko told the court Friday that her case was politically motivated.

"When I said I would run for president I became dangerous for the authorities, and they sought to cast me in a negative light," she told the court.

She said she's going on a hunger strike to let the public realize that "the Ukrainian government is just as criminal as the Russian one."

Savchenko became a national hero in Ukraine after spending years in a Russian prison. She was elected in absentia to parliament in 2014, months after she was captured by Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine while serving in a volunteer battalion. She then landed in a Russian prison.

In March 2016, a Russian court sentenced her to 22 years in prison, saying she acted as a spotter for mortar fire that killed two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine. During her trial she sang the national anthem and raised her middle finger in a show of contempt for Russian authorities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned her shortly afterward amid international outrage at her sentence, but after her return home, Savchenko quickly fell out with Poroshenko, whose government she has accused of corruption and incompetence.</s>A Ukrainian court is deliberating whether to arrest a celebrated former military pilot accused of plotting an attack on parliament with grenades and automatic weapons.

Nadiya Savchenko was taken into custody on Thursday after the parliament stripped her of her immunity as a lawmaker. Prosecutors have accused Savchenko of plotting a coup in collusion with Russia-backed rebels.

She told the court on Friday that her case was politically motivated and declared a hunger strike.

Savchenko became a national icon in Ukraine after spending years in a Russian prison, but she became a critic of the Ukrainian government, accusing it of failing public hopes.

She says she talked about attacking parliament as a "surrealist political provocation" to mock the government because she knew she was being wiretapped by authorities.</s>Ukrainian politician Nadiya Savchenko began a hunger strike on Friday to protest her detention on charges of planning a coup against the government, less than two years after being welcomed home as a national hero.

Savchenko, an ex-helicopter navigator who served time in a Russian jail as a prisoner of war, was detained in Kiev on Thursday.

Authorities charged her with planning an attack on parliament using grenades and automatic weapons.

Since her return to Ukraine, Savchenko has been a frequent and outspoken critic of the administration in Kiev and says the authorities set up the coup plot to discredit her.

However, she does not deny seeking to overthrow the government.

Speaking at a televised pre-trial hearing to determine the terms of her arrest, Savchenko said she would protest her treatment the same way she did her imprisonment in Russia.

'I will go on a hunger strike from today and again show all the unbelievers,' she said. 'I will show the Ukrainian people what a hero is.'

She wore a black t-shirt with a trident motif - a national symbol in Ukraine - similar to her outfit while standing trial in Russia.

Her defiance in the Russian court earned her the nickname of Ukraine's 'Joan of Arc,' and at the time posters calling for her release were hung on the streets, at airports and in the chamber of parliament.

But she has fallen out of favour since returning to Kiev in 2016 because of her outspoken manner and erratic behaviour .

In 2016, President Petro Poroshenko conferred on Savchenko the country's highest honour, 'Hero of Ukraine.'

Yet, on Thursday he suggested her alleged coup plot was a Russia-led special operation to destabilise Ukraine.

'All this is another reminder that a large-scale hybrid war is being waged against Ukraine,' he said in a post on Facebook.

Later on Friday, the court is expected to decide whether to release Savchenko pending trial or keep her in detention.</s>The Security Service of Ukraine has arrested Verkhovna Rada member Nadiya Savchenko.

At 2.20 p.m., MP Savchenko escorted by officers of the Security Service of Ukraine entered the building of the SBU at 3a Askoldov Lane in Kyiv, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"The authorities have made their decision. Now its your turn," she said addressing Ukrainian people through media.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on March 22, law enforcers handed a notice of suspicion to MP Savchenko in the case on preparing terror attacks in the center of Kyiv.

On March 22, the Verkhovna Rada supported motions of the Prosecutor General's Office and stripped MP Savchenko of deputy immunity and gave consents to her arrest and detention.
Ukrainian MP Nadiya Savchenko is arrested in Parliament over an alleged plot to attack Parliament and overthrow the government.