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11 years ago, on October 11, 2011, the former Prime Minister and Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko She was sentenced to seven years in prison for abuse of power. She spent two and a half years in jail.
Tymoshenkoan economist, businesswoman and cyberneticist, served as Prime Minister from January to September 2005 and again from December 2007 to March 2010.
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The veteran politician was also sentenced by a kyiv court to a three-year disqualification from holding public office for signing, in January 2009, when she was prime minister, a gas supply agreement with Russia between Naftogaz Ukraine (the state company Ukrainian hydrocarbon company) and the Russian giant Gazpromwhich had increased the price by 40%, worth several million dollars.
In full swing of Gazprom and the urgency to meet the demands of Ukraine, Tymoshenko agreed to a deal with the Russian president, Vladimir Putinwhich, according to the indictment, cost the State a loss of US$194.6 million.
After being released, the leader of the Orange Revolution made strong statements against Putin in an intercepted telephone conversation.
“I am willing to grab a kalashnikov myself and shoot that scoundrel in the head,” she said of Putin.
“I will raise the whole world (against Russia) as soon as I can, so that, damn it, not a single burnt field remains from Russia,” the Ukrainian politician added. “You have to grab the Kalasnikov and finish off all the Russians,” he said too.
Tymoshenko confirmed on Twitter the authenticity of large parts of the conversation; however, he assured that some fragments were manipulated.
“Putin he’s not crazy, he’s rationalized evil with a definite plan,” the policy declared in August this year about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He assured that the Russian leader takes advantage of “the weakness of the collective response of the West”.
According to an interview he gave to France 24 at the start of the war, Tymoshenko assured that Putin “will use all its possibilities” to achieve victory in Ukraine, including plans to attack nuclear power plants, calling on the whole world to “defend against terrorism.”
The Russian offensive not only represents a “threat” to Ukrainebut for “Europe and the world”, says the former prime minister.
Source: Elcomercio
I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.
