Ukrainian Deputies beaten in parliament

A fight in Ukraine's parliament Thursday left opposition lawmakers bloodied and bruised after they protested against the opening of a criminal case against their leader, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the Wall Street Journal says.

Deputies from Ms. Tymoshenko's bloc had physically blocked the work of Parliament and hung signs reading "Stop the political repressions" a day after prosecutors filed the case. The opposition leader is accused of mishandling hundreds of millions of dollars when she was in office.

In the evening, scores of deputies from the pro-presidential Party of Regions stormed the podium and, after a fight involving fists and flying chairs, forced opposition deputies out of the parliament hall.

Five opposition lawmakers were taken to a hospital—one with a jaw injury, one with a heavily bruised hand, and three with concussions.

According to Bondarenko, the incident was pre-planned. "This was a planned action, because it all happened very quickly", the deputy noticed, adding that no less than 100 deputies from the Party of Regions partook in the fight. He also did not exclude that this was not without the help of employees of the State Security Service.

Ms. Tymoshenko and her allies have accused President Viktor Yanukovych of cracking down on the opposition since he defeated her in an election in February. A number of officials who served in her government have been detained or are under investigation for alleged abuse of office. The authorities say they are fighting corruption, the Wall Street Journal is writing.

Prosecutors questioned Ms. Tymoshenko on Wednesday and banned her from leaving Kiev. She denied claims that as prime minister she used government funds raised in 2009 by the sale of carbon credits, which under international treaty must be used for emission-reduction projects, to pay pensions during a recession, the source states.

The fight was the third in the parliament hall in the past year. Eggs and fists were thrown in the chamber in April during a debate on an agreement to extend the Russian Black Sea Fleet's lease in a Ukrainian port until 2042, the site recalls.

It is known that the former head of the Ukrainian government was called in for questioning, despite the fact that her husband - Alexander Timoshenko - was earlier hospitalized and was in intensive care unit of one of the hospitals in Kiev.