The Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Council)  of Ukraine—which is the country’s parliament—decided to release former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko from prison. 

The Rada made the aforesaid decision in the context of fulfilling Ukraine’s international commitments, UNIAN news agency reports. 

A total of 322 from the 331 registered MPs voted in favor of this decision. 

In October 2011, Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of abuse of power and embezzlement when signing natural gas deals with Russia in 2009.