A weather forecaster for Ukrainian state radio has stirred up a storm of her own by veering from meteorological observations into political commentary. Last week, Lyudmila Savchenko told listeners while describing the warm spring weather and blossoming flowers that this was Ukraine's way of compensating its people "for the disruption, lawlessness, and injustice taking place in our country." She also suggested that authorities had contempt for the Ukrainian people. The country's top opposition leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, has now made Savchenko a heroine and called for her reinstatement. The opposition party in parliament is pressuring the national radio company to take her back, and even government-friendly parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn says he supports the appeal. On Friday, President Viktor Yanukovych's office declined to comment on the matter.
(Note: The original text contains many garbled characters which have been interpreted and reconstructed based on context for this translation.)