Russia's Senate makes the widow of one of Savchenko's alleged victims a Supreme Court judge

The Federation Council has appointed Ekaterina Kornelyuk, the widow of one of the Russian journalists killed in eastern Ukraine allegedly with the help of Nadiya Savchenko, to serve on Russia's Supreme Court. The 38 year old became a judge in 2010. Until recently, she served in the qualification collegium of judges in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

Kornelyuk's husband and his colleague, Anton Voloshin, were killed outside Luhansk in the summer of 2014. A Russian court convicted the Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko of involvement in the murders, and in March 2016, she was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the crime, but President Putin pardoned her on May 25, after which she was transferred back to Ukraine in exchange for two Russian prisoners. Putin's pardon reportedly came at the request of Ekaterina Kornelyuk and Voloshin's sister.