Poroshenko sends letter to Putin, calls for pilot's release

Ukrainian army pilot Nadezhda (Nadia) Savchenko speaks inside a defendants' cage as she attends a court hearing in Moscow, November 11, 2014. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

WARSAW (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has sent a letter to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin demanding the release of jailed Ukrainian military pilot Nadia Savchenko, captured by separatists last year, Poroshenko said on Tuesday.

"I sent a letter to Putin a day before yesterday. Also one of the key elements of this letter was not only a ceasefire, ... but also a release of Nadia Savchenko," Poroshenko told Polish broadcaster TVN Biznes i Swiat.