MOSCOW, November 18 (RAPSI) – Igor Plotnitsky, the leader of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic, will testify in the case against Ukrainian military ex-pilot Nadezhda Savchenko charged with involvement in the killing Russian journalists and civilians in Donbas, behind closed doors, RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.

Plotnitsky, a witness for prosecution, has asked the Donetsk Court of the Rostov Region to question him behind closed doors for his safety. Savchenko and her attorneys opposed the request. However, the court granted Plotnitsky’s motion.

Savchenko was arrested in Russia last summer on charges of involvement in the murder of two Russian TV journalists during hostilities in Donbas and on illegally crossing the border into Russia.

TV correspondent Igor Kornelyuk and sound engineer Anton Voloshin were killed on June 17 in a mortar attack.

Savchenko, who denies all the charges, is facing 25 years in prison.

Her attorneys claim that Savchenko was framed and that there is no evidence of involvement in the journalists’ murder. They also claim she did not cross the border voluntarily but was kidnapped.