KIEV, December 19 - RAPSI. The Ukrainian Justice Ministry has appealed in the cassation instance a court ruling obligating Ukraine to pay the Russian Defense Ministry $390 million in debt, First Deputy Justice Minister Inna Emelyanova told journalists on Wednesday.

She added that the Ukrainian Supreme Economic Court will consider the appeal.

On September 19, the Kiev Economic Court partially ruled for the Russian Defense Ministry's lawsuit, obligating Ukraine to pay over 3.2 million hryvnas ($390 million) in United Energy Systems of Ukraine debt dating back to the 1990s, when former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko headed the corporation.

Russia has maintained that the debt stems from the the corporation's failure to execute its 1997 agreement to supply goods to the Defense Ministry.

The Kiev Economic Appellate Court upheld in early December the first-instance court's ruling to recover the debt from Ukraine. Previously, the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers said the government's guarantees were not duly executed and asked to dismiss the ruling on the debt recovery at the appellate hearings.

In October 2011, Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison for abuse of power based on a 2009 gas contract signed with Russia. She is serving her sentence in a Kharkiv women's prison. She has been receiving treatment at a local hospital as of May 2012. She was diagnosed with a spinal disc herniation.

In late March, a second case bringing further charges against Tymoshenko was filed with Kharkiv's Kievsky District Court. The case deals with her activity at the corporation. She is accused of misappropriating funds.