Yulia Tymoshenko

Yulia Tymoshenko is the leader of the oldest Ukrainian parliamentary party Batkivshchyna, chairwoman of its Rada (Parliament) Faction, and former prime minister of Ukraine.

In 1996, Tymoshenko became MP for the first time. In 1999, she founded and chaired the Batkivshchyna party, and was appointed as the deputy prime minister of fuel and energy.

In November 2004, Yulia Tymoshenko became one of the leaders of the Orange Revolution, a democratic popular uprising in Ukraine that broke out as a protest against rigged presidential elections.

She was the prime minister of Ukraine in 2005 and 2007-2010.

In the 2010 presidential elections, she narrowly lost to Viktor Yanukovych and immediately afterward the Yanukovych government launched a number of trumped-up politically motivated investigations against her. In August 2011, she was sentenced to seven years in prison and in February 2014 she was released from prison following the overthrow of the Yanukovych regime.

After the 2014 parliamentary election, she chaired the Batkivshchyna faction in the Parliament. 

She was 3rd on the list of the most influential world (women) leaders. 

In 2007 she received a special award of the International Politique for Political Courage.