Chanting slogans against President Viktor Yanukovich, the protesters on Friday marched through the city center and held a mass gathering at Independence Square, Reuters reports.
Tymoshenko supporters claim the former prime minister, who is on hunger strike in jail, is gravely ill and has been denied appropriate medical care.
Last week, Tymoshenko said she was beaten by prison guards who arrived to take her to a local hospital. Her lawyers have posted photos on the Internet apparently showing her injuries.
Tymoshenko — Yanukovich’s arch rival and the leader of the Orange Revolution — is serving a seven-year jail sentence for abuse of office at a women’s penal colony in Kharkiv. She says she is the victim of political persecution.
“The current government has focused its entire repressive machine on trying to achieve one goal: to destroy my wife, Yulia Tymoshenko, physically and politically,” said her husband, Oleksandr Tymoshenko.
DB/MA/AZ