NEWSWATCH: Freed by Russia, Ukraine’s ‘Joan of Arc’ may be thorn in own leaders’ side – Reuters/Pavel Polityuk
Securing … Savchenko’s release from Russian captivity was a PR coup for … Poroshenko but the outspoken woman … may ultimately prove a thorn in his side. … in jail, Savchenko was named a lawmaker in … the main opposition party at a time of growing disillusion with the slow pace of reforms and … corruption. She … condemned a key plank of Poroshenko’s ceasefire deal with pro-Russian separatists granting them autonomy in eastern Ukraine. * * * At her press conference … Savchenko called … Putin a ‘d[-]ckh[–]d’ and said Crimea could be returned to Ukraine if a Third World War broke out. … ‘Let’s ask — Ukrainians, if you need me to be president, fine I’ll be president’ … ‘I’m not saying that I want it … I love flying, but if needed, I will do anything and if needed I will go down even that road.’