KIEV, April 24 - RAPSI. Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has begun a hunger strike in her penal colony in Kharkov, her defense attorney Sehiy Vlasenko reported on Tuesday.

He said she is now only drinking water.

Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison in October 2011 for abuse of power when she signed gas contracts between Ukraine's Naftogaz and Russia's Gazprom in 2009.

The Kharkiv District Court received a second case against Tymoshenko in late March. The case is based on her activities while she headed the United Energy Systems of Ukraine. She is suspected of illegal financial operations. She has also been sued for $2.4 million.

The preliminary case hearings were conducted on April 19.