German hospital: Tymoshenko in less pain after week of treatment, no decision yet on operation

In this picture publicly provided by the Charite hospital in Berlin, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko , center, poses with her doctors Professor Karl Max Einhaeupl , left, CEO of the Charite Hospital and doctors from left : Dr. Anett Reisshauer , Professor Nobert Haas, Professor Matthias Endres, and Professor Peter Vajkoczy in the Charite Hospital in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday March 8, 2014. Ukraine's former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, has started medical treatment at Berlin's Charite hospital after arriving late Friday, but doctors treating her say it's too soon to say how long this will take. (AP Photo/ho/Charite Universitaetsmedizin Berlin) MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)

BERLIN – The German hospital treating Yulia Tymoshenko says the former Ukrainian prime minister is in significantly less pain after nearly a week of treatment for three slipped discs she suffered while imprisoned.

Berlin's Charite hospital said in a statement Friday that Tymoshenko is very satisfied with the outcome so far of what it called "conservative" treatment. It isn't yet clear whether the 53-year-old will require an operation; the hospital said a decision will be made in the coming days.

Tymoshenko was imprisoned on what Western governments considered politically motivated charges of corruption, and was freed last month after pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych fled Ukraine. She arrived in Berlin on March 7.

Tymoshenko holds no post in Ukraine's new government but is believed to wield behind-the-scenes influence.