KIEV, Ukraine, April 2 (UPI) -- Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko received permission to receive treatment outside the prison where she's being held, a prosecutor said Monday.
It remained unclear where she would be treated after Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka said she could be treated outside the women's prison near Kharkov, RIA Novosti reported.
But the Russian news agency noted she said she would prefer to be treated at a Berlin clinic.
Tymoshenko's supporters said her health has declined since her pre-trial detention in August 2011 and that she can longer walk because of back problems.
She has refused treatment in prison.
Tymoshenko, who served as prime minister from December 2007 to March 2010, was sentenced to seven years in prison October for abuse of office in the 2009 signing of Russian gas contracts. She was also fined $200 million.
Her conviction has been condemned as politically motivated by the United States, Russia, the European Union and human rights groups.
Tymoshenko, who lost an election to Viktor Yanukovych in 2010, has denied wrongdoing.
