Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko

Ukrainian opposition party leader Yulia Tymoshenko reacts as the parliament approves her nomination as prime minister - in a 373-0 vote - in Kiev, in this Feb. 4, 2005 file photo.

After her conviction and jailing for abuse of power, following a trial that international organizations (including the European Union) characterized as politically motivated, Tymoshenko was freed on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014, following months of unrest in her nation's capital. The parliament also voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from power.

By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan

Yulia Tymoshenko

Ukrainian opposition leader Julia Tymoshenko in September 2002.

Born in 1960, Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko was a businesswoman whose ventures included the nation's gas industry. She was elected to the nation's parliament in 1996, eventually becoming a leader in a nascent opposition party against then-President Leonid Kuchma. In 2001 she was fired by Kuchma from her position as deputy prime minister responsible for the gas and energy sector.

During Yulia Tymoshenko's early political career she was arrested and charged with forging documents and smuggling gas; a court found no basis to the charges. Her husband, businessman Oleksandr Tymoshenko, was also arrested and charged with embezzlement. A court threw out the case, but Oleksandr went into hiding, fearing further prosecution. Yulia Tymoshenko maintained the government's cases against them amounted to political intimidation.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko's top ally Yulia Timoshenko places carnations into shields as riot police guard the Ukrainian presidential administration building in Kiev, November 23, 2004. Several thousand supporters of Yushchenko (who declared himself the winner of a disputed presidential election and took a symbolic oath of office) marched to the presidential administration building, skirting heavy trucks that blocked the street and standing in front of riot police who guarded the building.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Ukrainian parliament deputies applaud Yulia Timoshenko after their vote in Kiev February 4, 2005. Ukraine's parliament overwhelmingly endorsed Timoshenko as the country's new prime minister, sealing a dramatic political transformation that swept away the ex-Soviet republic's pro-Russia regime and brought Western-leaning democratic reformers to power.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Russian President Vladimir Putin talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko during their meeting in Kiev, March 19, 2005. Putin launched a tricky diplomatic foray into Ukraine, now under liberal management, after promising European powers he would support pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko shake hands at a press conference in Kiev, Ukraine, April 27, 2005.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko gives a wildflower to a folk singer May 15, 2005 during her visit to the Pirogovo open-air museum in Kiev.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Women's magazines are seen in a shop window in Kiev April 19, 2005. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a leader of the pro-Western "Orange Revolution," made the cover of the Ukrainian edition of Elle magazine, a rare event for a political personality.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's fired prime minister, gestures during an interview with AFP in her office in Kiev September 19, 2005. Tymoshenko said President Viktor Yushchenko had fired her government on September 8 because he couldn't handle competition from the popular female politician.

Yulia Tymoshenko

People carry former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, one of the leaders of the "Orange Revolution," to a platform during a rally on Independence Square in Kiev, November 22, 2005. Ukraine marked the first anniversary of mass protests over a rigged election that ousted an entrenched pro-Russian regime and installed pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko in power.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Supporters greet Yulia Tymoshenko at a mass pre-elections rally in Kiev March 23, 2006. Ukraine's estranged "Orange Revolution" allies traded acrimonious accusations today, days ahead of a key parliamentary election.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Yulia Tymoshenko speaks to the media in Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 29, 2006. Tymoshenko appealed Wednesday to her estranged Orange Revolution allies to revive their partnership before the end of the week, warning that a delay would only benefit their pro-Russian opponent, whose party is trying to negotiate a return to power after defeating the pro-Western forces.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko light candles to honor the memory of the victims of the Chernobyl disaster, in Kiev, Ukraine, April 26, 2007. Ukraine marked the 21st anniversary of the deadly explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the world's worst nuclear disaster.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko kisses a hand of the opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko prior to their talks in Kiev September 27, 2007. A two-month political crisis led Yushchenkoto dissolve the parliament.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Leader of the Ukrainian opposition Yulia Tymoshenko speaks during her press-conference in Kiev October 2, 2007. The outcome of Sunday's snap election remained in question even as final votes were counted, with the Orange Revolution alliance of President Viktor Yushchenko and firebrand reformist Yulia Tymoshenko just ahead.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko meets with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in London on September 20, 2007.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoschenko listens at the EU Parliament in Brussels, January 28, 2008. Tymoshenko denied today that her country wished to use its entry into the World Trade Organisation as a trade lever against non-member Russia.

Yulia Tymoshenko

U.S. President George W. Bush and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko wave after their talks in Kiev on April 1, 2008. The visit to the Ukrainian capital marks the start of a tour that took Mr. Bush to a NATO summit in Romania, and later to Russia for one-to-one talks with President Vladimir Putin.

Yulia Tymoshenko

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures during her meeting with Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko in Kiev on July 21, 2008. Merkel arrived in Ukraine for a one-day working visit.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Prime minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko and Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi speak during their talks in Kiev on November 5, 2008. Qaddafi arrived in Ukraine for a three-day state visit.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Pope Benedict XVI meets with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko at his library on October 16, 2009 in Vatican City.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko tries to speak to President Viktor Yushchenko in her office in Kiev on October 7, 2008. Yushchenko set the deadline for completing talks aimed at restoring the pro-Western government coalition deputies of his Our Ukraine party. After that term, the president had the judicial right to dissolve parliament.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Ukraine's former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko leaves the Parliament in Kiev on March 3, 2010. A majority in Ukraine's parliament voted for the no-confidence motion brought by the Regions Party (led by Ukraine's new President Viktor Yanukovych, who defeated Tymoshenko in presidential elections last month), forcing Tymoshenko and the cabinet to resign.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko speaks to protesters during their rally in front of the parliament in Kiev on April 27, 2010. Ukraine's parliament erupted into chaos as it ratified a bitterly controversial deal with Russia extending the lease of a key naval base. The deal signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was slammed by the pro-Western Ukrainian opposition as a historic surrender of sovereignty.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Ukraine's former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko kisses the picture of an icon in front of the prosecutor's office in Kiev before her interrogation on December 24, 2010. Tymoshenko was placed under investigation for abuse of power and ordered not to leave Kiev, in the gravest legal action yet against the Orange Revolution leader. Tymoshenko said earlier that authorities had opened a criminal probe against her for misspending state money Ukraine received from selling greenhouse emission quotas under the Kyoto Protocol.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Young people shout slogans and hold placards depicting Ukraine's ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko together with her symbolic talisman tiger cub (called Tiger Yulia) during a mass rally in front of the Kiev court on July 7, 2011.

Yulia Tymoshenko

A supporter of former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko shouts at riot policemen following clashes between security and demonstrators near the Pecherskiy District Court in Kiev on September 5, 2011.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Ukrainian opposition lawmakers shout "Shame!" as pro-president parliamentarians applaud, next to a giant poster featuring former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko with the slogan reading, "No political repression." Tymoshenko's supporters argue her arrest and ongoing trial on abuse of power charges are part of a vendetta pursued by the Regions Party of President Viktor Yanukovych against her faction.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Pro-Yulia Tymoshenko protesters demonstrate their support as they sit and shout slogans outside the court where she is being tried, in Kiev, on September 30, 2011.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Yulia Tymoshenko looks from behind a policeman in a Kiev court after the reading of the verdict on October 11, 2011. A Ukrainian judge sentenced the former prime minister to seven years in jail for abusing her powers in a 2009 gas deal with Russia, a verdict that is set to harm ties with the European Union. Amid emotional scenes in the packed court, judge Rodion Kireyev said the 10-year contract for gas imports from Russia had sustained heavy losses for Ukraine, and ruled that her actions were criminal.

Yulia Tymoshenko

A picture released by Yulia Tymoshenko's press service shows the former Ukrainian Prime Minister gesturing from a prison window in Kiev on November 4, 2011. Tymoshenko egged on her supporters from her prison cell today, in her first appearance since her controversial jailing over abuse of office charges last month. She poked her hand between the bars, waved and blew kisses to a handful of supporters who had gathered outside the prison, chanting "Freedom to Yulia," in her first appearance since being jailed on October 11.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Anti-government protesters stand beneath a giant poster of jailed former Ukrainian Prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko as they attend a rally on Independence Square in Kiev on February 21, 2014. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and three main opposition leaders signed a deal on February 21 to end a three-month crisis over the ex-Soviet country's political future that has led to nearly 100 deaths.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Newly-freed Ukrainian opposition icon Yulia Tymoshenko speaks at Independence Square on February 22, 2014, moments after the nation's parliament voted to hold early presidential elections in May. Sitting in a wheelchair because of a back problem exacerbated during her imprisonment, Tymoshenko received a rapturous welcome on Independence Square.

"You are heroes, you are the best of Ukraine," she told the 50,000-strong crowd before breaking down in tears.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko addresses the crowd in Independence Square after being freed from prison on February 22, 2014 in Kiev, Ukraine.