Roman Olearchyk writes:Ukrainian prosecutors announced on Dec. 15 that they had launched criminal charges against Yulia Tymoshenko, a leading opposition figure and former prime minister who first broke onto the international stage as a leader of the 2004 Orange Revolution. The development follows a handful of arrests in recent months of her close associates. The case against her could harden a standoff between Ukraine’s opposition and Ukraine’s president, Viktor Yanukovych. Tymoshenko claims the investigation into her political camp is an attempt to punish opponents and divert attention from alleged corruption by Yanukovych’s administration and oligarch backers.Yanukovych'sadministration describes the investigations into Tymoshenko and her associates as legitimate attempts to combat corruption.
