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| Tymoshenko Says She Will Run for President of Ukraine | Tymoshenko Says She Will Run for President of Ukraine |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| KIEV, Ukraine — Yulia V. Tymoshenko, the former prime minister of Ukraine, said on Thursday that she would run for president in elections to be held in May, making it clear that after two and a half years in prison she intends to play an active role as her country struggles with political and financial upheaval as well as the Russian annexation of Crimea. | |
| Ms. Tymoshenko, a charismatic but also potentially polarizing figure, ran unsuccessfully for president in 2010 against her archrival, Viktor F. Yanukovych. She is now the best-known candidate in a field that includes Petro Poroshenko, a billionaire known as the chocolate king, and Vitali V. Klitschko, a former champion boxer who is a leader in Parliament. | |
| Ms. Tymoshenko was jailed on charges that were criticized by the West as politically motivated and as stemming from her rivalry with Mr. Yanukovych, who fled Kiev and then was formally ousted by Parliament in February after more than three months of civil unrest. | Ms. Tymoshenko was jailed on charges that were criticized by the West as politically motivated and as stemming from her rivalry with Mr. Yanukovych, who fled Kiev and then was formally ousted by Parliament in February after more than three months of civil unrest. |
| She was freed from a prison hospital just hours after Mr. Yanukovych fled the presidential residence, and she immediately went to Independence Square, the central gathering point for demonstrators in Kiev, where she received a mixed reception. | She was freed from a prison hospital just hours after Mr. Yanukovych fled the presidential residence, and she immediately went to Independence Square, the central gathering point for demonstrators in Kiev, where she received a mixed reception. |
| Although Ms. Tymoshenko has long harbored ambitions to be president of Ukraine, and despite her candidacy being widely expected, she had seemed to waver a bit in recent weeks. While the demonstrators in Kiev were thrilled about Mr. Yanukovych’s ouster, many have expressed suspicions of anyone with longstanding ties to Ukrainian politics, which has a deep history of corruption and mismanagement. | Although Ms. Tymoshenko has long harbored ambitions to be president of Ukraine, and despite her candidacy being widely expected, she had seemed to waver a bit in recent weeks. While the demonstrators in Kiev were thrilled about Mr. Yanukovych’s ouster, many have expressed suspicions of anyone with longstanding ties to Ukrainian politics, which has a deep history of corruption and mismanagement. |
| Ms. Tymoshenko announced her decision at a news conference at the headquarters of her political party, Fatherland, in a leafy, mostly residential neighborhood of Kiev. | |
| “I will be the candidate of Ukrainian unity,” Ms. Tymoshenko, said at the news conference, according to The Associated Press. “The west and center of Ukraine has always voted for me, but I was born in the east, in Dnepropetrovsk.” | |
| Ms. Tymoshenko, who is known for her trademark blonde braid, generated new controversy this week after she was heard in a recorded telephone conversation using expletives and a derogatory term for Russians, and saying that Russia should be destroyed for its invasion and annexation of Crimea. | Ms. Tymoshenko, who is known for her trademark blonde braid, generated new controversy this week after she was heard in a recorded telephone conversation using expletives and a derogatory term for Russians, and saying that Russia should be destroyed for its invasion and annexation of Crimea. |
| “I am hoping that I will use all of my connections and will get the whole world to rise up so that not even scorched earth would be left of Russia,” Ms. Tymoshenko said in the call, which was posted on YouTube. | “I am hoping that I will use all of my connections and will get the whole world to rise up so that not even scorched earth would be left of Russia,” Ms. Tymoshenko said in the call, which was posted on YouTube. |
| Similar calls, believed to have been recorded by Russian intelligence services, have also been posted on YouTube, including one between an American assistant secretary of state, Victoria Nuland, and the American ambassador in Kiev, Geoffrey R. Pyatt. | |
| Ms. Tymoshenko, writing on Twitter, suggested that some of the conversation was altered but appeared to confirm the general contents, and apologized for using expletives. | Ms. Tymoshenko, writing on Twitter, suggested that some of the conversation was altered but appeared to confirm the general contents, and apologized for using expletives. |
| Since Mr. Yanukovych’s ouster, which the Kremlin has denounced as a coup supported by the West, the Fatherland party has had a strong grip on the new provisional government. | Since Mr. Yanukovych’s ouster, which the Kremlin has denounced as a coup supported by the West, the Fatherland party has had a strong grip on the new provisional government. |
| Both the acting president, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, and the acting prime minister, Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, are leading members of Fatherland. The party voted at a conference last year to nominate Ms. Tymoshenko as its candidate for president should she be able to run. At that point, elections were scheduled for early 2015. The Parliament has since moved the elections to May. | Both the acting president, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, and the acting prime minister, Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, are leading members of Fatherland. The party voted at a conference last year to nominate Ms. Tymoshenko as its candidate for president should she be able to run. At that point, elections were scheduled for early 2015. The Parliament has since moved the elections to May. |