Tymoshenko to run for president in Ukraine

Former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko has announced she will stand in presidential elections set for May 25.

Ms Tymoshenko, who was released from jail last month following the overthrow of president Viktor Yanukovcyh, said that she has earned the moral right to say she will combat corruption.

She said she would become a candidate for Ukrainian unity.

Her renewed ascent to the forefront of public life marks the return of one of the most polarising 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.