Brian Mefford: Pre-election predictions

A handout picture released on May 21, 2014 by Yulia Tymoshenko's press office shows Ukrainian presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko (R) greeting supporters during an election campaign trip to the northern city of Sumy. Ukraine's glamorous but polarising ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko was triumphantly released from prison during the pro-Western uprising in Kiev but is now a longshot in Sunday's presidential ballot due to mistrust of the corruption-stained old guard.The most influential female politician to have emerged from the former Soviet Union appears to retain an unquenched thirst for office despite nearly three years behind bars on abuse of power charges drawn up by allies of Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian who narrowly beat her in the 2010 vote and whose regime was toppled after bloody street fighting in February.