Tymoshenko hits back at rivals

KIEV, Ukraine, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Pressure on the opposition movement in Ukraine is a sign that public confidence in President Viktor Yanukovych is waning, said Yulia Tymoshenko.

Tymoshenko, a former prime minister, is facing charges she misused federal revenue to cover state pension funds. She denies the charges and accuses Yanukovych of launching a "terror" campaign against the opposition in Ukraine.

Tymoshenko has appeared before the general prosecutor in Kiev to answer the charges. She deflected the allegations, saying they represent an attack on people who opposed "all the unfair and illegal" practices of the Yanukovych administration.

"Public confidence in the president and his government is falling sharply and that's why they need to remove from the political arena those people that are trying to oppose them," she said in statements posted on her Web site.

Former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, a Tymoshenko ally, was arrested by security forces Sunday. His backers said he was detained in connection with an investigation into the 2004 poisoning of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.

He said the charges are politically motivated.

"What they're doing to us all is simply the result of their hysteria," added Tymoshenko. "It's a sign of their fear, their weakness and their loss of direction because strong politicians don't engage in repression."