"Ukrainian woman dies after grisly rape" Associated Press, March 30, 2012
KIEV, Ukraine - An 18-year-old Ukrainian woman died Thursday, two weeks after her brutal rape set off protests across the country against corruption and favoritism toward the wealthy.
Prosecutors said Oksana Makar was raped by three young men on March 9 in the southern city of Mykolaiv. The men then tried to cover up their crime by strangling her, dumping her naked body at an abandoned construction site, and setting her on fire.
Makar survived but suffered burns over more than half of her body and severe damage to her lungs, and her right arm was amputated to stop gangrene.
Health officials said she died Thursday after succumbing to her injuries.
The crime outraged Ukrainians with its cruelty. It also galvanized a society frustrated with official corruption after police released two of the suspects who had powerful connections in the region. Their release led to nationwide protests, which prompted the authorities to rearrest the two suspects.
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"Ex-leader of Ukraine is denied treatment" Associated Press, March 16, 2012
KIEV - Yulia Tymoshenko, the jailed former Ukrainian prime minister, has not been allowed to receive treatment in a specialized clinic outside her prison, as recommended by German doctors, prison officials and supporters said Thursday.
Tymoshenko, 51, the country’s top opposition leader, is serving a seven-year jail sentence on charges of abuse of office after a verdict condemned by the West as politically motivated.
Tymoshenko has a spinal hernia and suffers from constant and intense pain, according to her daughter Eugenia Tymoshenko. German doctors concluded after examining her that she urgently needs complex treatment, which should be conducted in a specialized facility, not in prison, in observance of international standards.
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"Jailed ex-leader of Ukraine starts hunger strike" New York Times, April 25, 2012
MOSCOW - Ukraine’s jailed former prime minister, Yulia V. Tymoshenko, declared a hunger strike Tuesday after what she said was an assault by prison guards that left her black and blue.
In a statement, Tymoshenko, 51, said the assault occurred Friday after she refused to leave her prison cell for a medical checkup without first consulting with her lawyer.
“They came to my bed, threw a sheet over me, and started dragging me
off the bed,’’ she said in the statement, which was published on her
website. “I received a punch to the stomach, and they twisted my arms
and legs and dragged me in the sheet out into the street.’’
Although the details could not be independently confirmed, the incident could prove a rallying cry for Tymoshenko’s supporters and draw further scrutiny from Western governments, which have repeatedly called for her release.
Even from her prison cell, Tymoshenko, a fair-haired populist with a flair for political theatrics, has remained a potent force. Her supporters frequently take to the streets in protest over her treatment, and members of her Fatherland party have turned Ukraine’s Parliament into a platform for promoting her cause.
Her allies have accused Ukraine’s president, Viktor F. Yanukovich, of orchestrating her imprisonment in an effort to clear the political playing field. Yanukovich edged Tymoshenko to win the presidential election in 2010.
Just months later, she was arrested and put on trial on charges of working against Ukraine’s interests in a 2009 energy deal with Russia. Last fall, she was sentenced to seven years in prison.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian media reported that lawmakers from the Fatherland party held a sit-in at Parliament, demanding that lawmakers with medical training be allowed to visit with Tymoshenko to conduct an independent evaluation of her health.
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"Ailing jailed leader granted court delay
KIEV - A Ukrainian court on Saturday postponed a hearing in the second criminal case against Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister and opposition leader, whose treatment in prison has raised concerns in Europe. A judge in Kharkiv agreed to delay the hearing until May 21 because of the poor state of her health. Tymoshenko is on a hunger strike to protest her alleged abuse by prison guards, including being punched in the stomach and having her legs twisted (AP)."
Also see: Jailed Tymoshenko accused of treason in Ukraine
Top ally of Ukraine's ex-PM Tymoshenko sentenced
US condems jailing of Tymoshenko ally
The woman is obviously an agent and asset judging by the amount of AmeriKan media attention she receives.
"4 explosions in Ukraine injure 27" Associated Press, April 28, 2012
KIEV, Ukraine - Four explosions rocked an eastern Ukrainian city Friday, injuring 27 people. Authorities say it was a terrorist attack but an opposition lawmaker claims it could be a government plot to divert attention from the imprisonment of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.
Top law enforcement officials rushed to Dnipropetrovsk, 250 miles southeast of Kiev, to investigate.
Many Ukrainian officials called the blasts terrorist attacks, including deputy prosecutor General Yevgeny Blazhivsky.
President Viktor Yanukovych vowed to investigate and punish the perpetrators.
“This is yet another challenge for us, for the whole country,’’ Yanukovych told reporters in televised comments. “We will think of how to respond to this properly.’’
But the opposition party led by jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko suggested that Yanukovych’s government may have organized the blasts in order to deflect the world’s attention from Tymoshenko’s imprisonment and reported abuse in prison.
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