The widow of a Russian state journalist killed in Luhansk has been appointed a Supreme Court judge, Mediazona news site reported Thursday.
Yekaterina Kornelyuk, who has worked at the Yamalo-Nenets region arbitration court since becoming a judge six years ago, was appointed by Russia's Federation Council (FC).
Her role at the court in Russia's far-north was her second appointment after working as a judge's secretary. The Yamalo-Nenets region court is on the lowest of the three “judicial echelons” which make up Russia's court system. The Supreme Court is part of the highest echelon.
The FC cited 38-year-old Kornelyuk's “deep professional knowledge,” “sufficient practical experience,” and “high moral character” as reasons for her appointment.
Russian law requires Supreme Court judges to be at least 35 years old and to have more than 10 years “service in the field of law.”
Kornelyuk’s husband died while working as a journalist for state media holding VGTRK. He was accompanying a group of refugees and pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s Luhansk region when he came under mortar fire. Kornelyuk met with Russian President Vladimir Putin after the incident.
Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko was charged for direct involvement in the killing of Kornelyuk and his colleague Anton Voloshin after she was captured by pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine. She was given a prison sentence of 22 years but freed in a prisoner exchange in May 2016.
