Timoshenko is more interested in power than anything else.
The orange thing was a way to convert her financial fortune into political power, so she supported it.
Problem is, people in Ukraine are somewhat disappointed in Yushenko, so distancing herself from him is the best thing she can do. If Yushenko is pro-NATO, she will be anti-NATO, for now.
But actually in current central europe, power hungry pragmatists are maybe the best that can happen to a country.
Timoshenko is realist enough to know that she can't wish away the russians or convert them to good Ukrainians overnight.
Actually, I kind of admire her. She's ex mafia and most likely has blood on her hands, but certainly she's the smartest woman in any powerful position on the planet right now.
In some ways, Putin in female, only her backround is ukrainian mafia, not KGB.
Regarding the "passport stunt", it sounds like a pretty baseless accusation in order to sow panic.
Some ukrainian MP of Yushenko's party states his own opinion, nothing more
AFAIK this is the same guy who accused Timoshenko of being bribed by Moscow (unlikely, as Moscow still has an arrest warrant for her for tax evasion).
Except for patriotism, there's no need for a crimean Russian to accept a passport of the Russian federation.
Keep in mind those Ossetians and Abkhazians did not get themselves russian passports solely for Patriotism (most are ethnically not related to russia and not even slavic!) or to piss off Tbilisi, but primarily for simple material gains.
It enabled them to travel, not only to Russia but also abroad.
These people were prisoners in their own country before they got russian passports.
Ukrainian citizens of the autonomous republic of Crimea can do all that with their passports.
It is well possible for them to travel abroad, both to russia and to the EU.
EU entry might be even easier than with a RF passport.
The passport stunt won't work in Ukraine, as people there gain no benefits from russian passports.
It might work in the Baltics, though, but baltic russian's "alien passports" are treated equal to "real" estonian/latvian (lithuanians are far more lenient in those matters) so apart from not being able to vote, "aliens" can travel the whole EU with their passports without any restrictions, so russian passports would only be an advantage in travels to non EU countries or the US.
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