UK calls on Russia to free Ukrainian pilot, dismisses 'sabre-rattling'

Ukrainian military pilot Nadezhda Savchenko (R) stands inside a defendants' cage as she attends a court hearing in Moscow, Russia, May 6, 2015. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Wednesday called on Russia to free detained Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko and told Moscow it and NATO would not be intimidated by "sabre-rattling" by President Vladimir Putin.

Savchenko, who has become a symbol of resistance in Ukraine to what Kiev and the West see as Russian aggression, is being held in Moscow on charges of aiding the killing of two Russian journalists in east Ukraine last year.