Via TulipGirl, it seems as if Yushchenko has chosen Yulia Tymoshenko for prime minister. Not that there was any doubt!

From the Kyiv Post:

(AP) – President Viktor Yushchenko on Jan. 24 tapped top ally Yulia Tymoshenko to be Ukraine’s prime minister in an appointment that pays tribute to her key role in Yushchenko’s torturous election victory but also will likely vex his opponents at home and in Russia.

Yushchenko’s office announced the decision while the president was in Moscow on his first foreign trip following his inauguration a day earlier. The visit was intended to smooth relations with Russia, Ukraine’s powerful neighbor that had staunchly backed Yushchenko’s rival for the presidency.

“Tymoshenko, of all the candidates that were proposed, was the most acceptable,” Yushchenko said after a meeting at the Kremlin with Russian President Vladimir Putin, “I hope that Yulia and her cabinet will be successful.”

Ouch, and he did it right in Putin’s face. The Russians aren’t happy about it…

Tymoshenko has been widely popular among opposition supporters but detested by Yushchenko’s foes in mostly Russian-speaking east of the country.

“Government is not the place for emotional and aggressive people like Tymoshenko,” said Mariya Zavada, a 72 year-old pensioner.

But I don’t expect any kind of Civil War will come out of it, like many have dramatized.