Jailed former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has criticized plans to accord equal status to the Russian and Ukrainian languages ahead of parliamentary elections, a statement on her website said.
"It is not just election games, it is a crime against Ukraine," she said. "I will not let it happen! Hear? Am here behind bars but I won't let you abuse Ukraine!"
According various estimates, the Russian language is native to 30-50% of Ukrainians as both countries have deep historic links, RIA-Novosti news agency reports.
Under the Ukrainian constitution, Ukrainian is the only official state language in Ukraine. Before he was elected in 2010, President Viktor Yanukovych promised to make Russian the other official language but then did not achieve the required majority in parliament to get the bill through.
Currently, Ukraine's parliament is debating a bill designed to expand the use of Russian in the country. The opposition has argued the bill would only aggravate relationship between Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking citizens.
