Montrealers protest Russia’s imprisonment of fighter pilot Nadiya Savchenko

MONTREAL — A group of protesters rallied in front of the Russian consulate on Monday at noon in Montreal.

The group joined a larger movement of protesters around the world on Monday who were demonstrating against Russia’s imprisonment of the Ukrainian fighter pilot Nadiya Savchenko, as well as the country’s military aggression in Ukraine.

“The world wants peace.”

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“We ask that Russia show true leadership, free Nadiya Savchenko, and end its aggression in Ukraine now,” said Peter Sheremeta, one of the event’s organizers.

Ukraine’s first female military pilot, Nadiya Savchenko, was apparently fighting in a Ukrainian volunteer battalion in eastern Ukraine while on leave from the armed forces.

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It is alleged she was involved in the deaths of two Russian journalists, Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin, who were killed by shelling close to a rebel checkpoint in eastern Ukraine.

Savchenko has been on a hunger strike since Dec. 2014, and she is described by her lawyer as a prisoner of war.