Deputy head of the main department investigating especially important cases of the Ukrainian Prosecutor's General Office, Oleh Pushkar, said that Serhiy Taruta, the witness in the criminal case in the murder of parliamentarian Yevhen Scherban, has given testimony completely opposed to his pretrial testimony.

"His current testimony in court actually doesn't completely match the protocols he had signed and the testimony he had given before… This testimony is actually completely different," Pushkar told reporters on Tuesday.

Pushkar said that the pretrial testimony of Taruta had said former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was guilty.

When asked whether Taruta had testified at the pretrial inquest at the Prosecutor's General Office and had confirmed Tymoshenko's guilt in organizing the murder of Scherban, Pushkar said: "Virtually, yes. The UESU corporation [United Energy Systems of Ukraine, that Tymoshenko managed at some point] and [former Ukrainian Prime Minister] Pavlo Lazarenko have been named."

"In the testimony [Taruta] gave before, he described in detail the relations of Pavlo Lazarenko and the UESU, in particular Lazarenko lobbying for the corporation's interests, and he named Tymoshenko," Pushkar said.

At the same time, Tymoshenko's lawyer Serhiy Vlasenko said that Taruta had not changed his testimony.

"As to the testimony of witness Taruta, they are completely in line with the explanations and testimony Serhiy Taruta gave at the court hearing," he said.