Hours after being released from prison after 2 1/2 years in captivity, former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko appeared before crowds gathered at the protester encampment in Ukraine’s capital Saturday, urging the protesters to keep occupying the square.

Her speech to the crowd of about 50,000, made from a wheelchair because of the severe back problems she suffered in prison, was the latest stunning development in the fast-moving Ukrainian political crisis.

The people of the Ukraine have all my respect, they have shown that they have the guts to do what the citizens of the USA don’t have the courage to do.