Ukraine's Tymoshenko lashes out at rivals

KIEV, Ukraine, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has a "special plan" to terrorize members of the opposition movement, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said.

Tymoshenko heads to the prosecutor general's office Wednesday to answer charges she misused federal money to pay for state pension funds during her tenure as prime minister.

The opposition leader who ran for president against Yanukovych earlier this year said authorities in Kiev are trying to destroy her reputation in a smear campaign.

"I think the president of Ukraine has a special plan for terrorizing me because I am his main opponent," she said in statements posted on her Web site. "But this won't help him."

Former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko faces up to 12 years in prison, meanwhile, for allegedly abusing his authority during an investigation into the poisoning of former President Viktor Yushchenko. The charges -- embezzling state funds and giving his driver a senior position -- are politically motivated, his spokesman told Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti.

Tymoshenko in her statements said she stood in solidarity with her supporter, noting the charges at Lutsenko are "contrary to all logic."