Ukraine Denies Arresting ex-Premier Tymoshenko

Ukrainian prosecutors on Tuesday denied arresting former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko after the pro-Western leader's party said she had been taken into custody.

The 2005 Orange Revolution leader has been repeatedly summoned for questioning on charges that she defrauded the state out of millions while serving as head of ex-Soviet state's government.

She and the party see the claims as the political vendetta of Ukraine's current leader Viktor Yanukovych, Tymoshenko pro-Russian rival who narrowly beat her in presidential elections last year.

Her supporters have expressed repeated fears that Tymoshenko may soon be taken into custody and announced on their party website on Tuesday that "the authorities have arrested Yulia Tymoshenko" following another interrogation session.

But a top investigative official said Tymoshenko would be allowed to go home after questioning.

"Right now we are holding an interrogation, and it concludes, Yulia Tymoshenko will go home," Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

Tymoshenko is currently barred from leaving the capital Kiev, and a spokesman for the prosecutor general's office said a decision to place her under arrest "has not yet been taken" by the judge overseeing the case.

The authorities accuse Tymoshenko of refusing to cooperate with the investigation, and investigators said in a statement that "she has long been evading the investigation."

Tymoshenko has turned into one of the most high-profile and powerful political opponents of Yanukovych, her eternal political rival whose controversial presidential victory in 2005 was overturned after mass street protests.

Several government allies of Tymoshenko face embezzlement charges and potential long terms in jail.

In April, Tymoshenko herself was accused of costing her government almost $200 million by signing excessively expensive natural gas deals with Russia.

Tymoshenko backers say the government is rallying public opinion in support of her future detention, accusing the prosecutor general's office of trying to arrest their leader before deciding to let her go.

"We are talking about an attempted arrest," party spokeswoman Natalia Lysova told Agence France Presse.

Tymoshenko may be jailed for up to 10 years and forbidden from running for office for another three if convicted.