Ukraine's Savchenko on hunger strike for release of war prisoners

Ukrainian pilot and MP Nadiya Savchenko attends a news conference in Kiev, Ukraine, August 2, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

KIEV - Nadiya Savchenko, who spent two years in a Russian prison, announced on Tuesday a new hunger strike to speed up the release of other Ukrainian prisoners of war.

"I've attempted many methods of fighting for these guys as the world fought for me. Now I am fighting for them as I fought for myself," Savchenko told reporters in Kiev.

"The hunger strike will continue until the positive result is achieved," Savchenko added.

Savchenko has been campaigning for the release of two dozen Ukrainians still held in eastern Ukraine via prisoner swap.

She called on relatives of those still in captivity to protest outside government and presidential buildings in Kiev on Monday.

Savchenko also said she is ready to go to the conflict area in eastern Ukraine for negotiations with the leadership of independence-seeking insurgents over the prisoner release.

The exchange of the detainees is a key part of the Minsk cease-fire agreement, designed to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine that has killed some 9,400 people since April 2014.