Wed | May 27, 2026

Former PM to run in May 25 elections

Published:Friday | March 28, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Pause
Members of the Crimean self-defence forces gather for their morning briefing prior to a patrol duty near Soviet Union founder Vladimir Lenin's statue in the background in Simferopol, Crimea, early yesterday. - AP Photos
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, speaks during press conference in Kiev, Ukraine.
1
2

KIEV (AP)

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, one of her country's most polarising political figures, announced yesterday that she will run for presidential elections set for May 25.

Tymoshenko, who was released from jail last month following the overthrow of her political rival, President Viktor Yanukovych, said she would stand to protect the unity of Ukraine.

Presidential elections are taking place against the backdrop of dismal economic conditions, Russia's annexation of Crimea and rumblings of discontent in the country's mainly Russian-speaking eastern provinces.

"I will be the candidate of Ukrainian unity," Tymoshenko said. "The west and centre of Ukraine has always voted for me, but I was born in the east, in Dnipropetrovsk."

This will be her second attempt to secure the presidency. She narrowly lost to Yanukovych in 2010.

Her renewed ascent to the forefront of public life marks the return of the most divisive figures in Ukraine's political scene. She is variously admired as an icon of democracy and detested as a self-promoting manipulator with a shady past.