Who's who: key players in Ukraine crisis

Yulia Tymoshenko

Former prime minister

Ukrainian opposition politician Yulia Tymoshenko reaches out to shake someone's hand during the European People's Party (EPP) Elections Congress in Dublin March 7, 2014.  [Photo/Agencies]

Tymoshenko, a key opposition leader, was convicted in October 2011 for abuse of power over a 2009 gas deal with Russia. The 53-year-old was released on Feb 22 evening in eastern Ukraine after the parliament approved earlier in the day a fast-track procedure that did not require the president's endorsement.

Tymoshenko is widely expected to run in a presidential election scheduled for May 25, but she has not revealed her plans.

Tymoshenko was charged with embezzling an estimated 405 million US dollars and evading tax worth more than 87,000 dollars in the 1990s.

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