Blue &Yellow: Politics and Economics in Ukraine

Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko was charged on Monday over alleged misuse of state funds during her tenure as prime minister from 2007 to 2010, Tymoshenko’s spokeswoman said.
Tymoshenko, who narrowly lost the February presidential election to President Viktor Yanukovych, has repeatedly dismissed as politically motivated accusations her government misused money raised by selling carbon emission rights.

No one should be surprised about this, it's been in the works for months. In fact, lets go through the past year and follow Ms Tymoshenko's political decline. First, a post on the Yushchenko-Tymoshenko rivalry, its a 2009 vintage but germane. Their intense feud almost assured a Yanukovych victory, however the terrible economy sealed it. In this post her public persona is attacked, prior to the presidential election. A post on the presidential election first round, Yushchenko is humiliated and Tymshenko comes in second to Yanukovych.

Before the second round, Regions flexed its muscles in the Rada. A sign of things to come in the year. Tymoshenko loses the presidential election. A legal challenge never gets off the ground. Some pundits probably didn't expect Yanukovych to consolidate his power and turn on the opposition as quickly.  Channel 5 gets a taste of the new regime. The political-legal challenges to Tymoshenko. This happened in May, yet no one should have expected Regions to stop. She was correct about political persecutions returning, in this interview. The local elections results showed the political power of Regions and its ability to get the election outcome it wants. The recent brawl was a pathetic way to end the year for Tymoshenko and her party. Yet fitting considering how far she fell politically.