KIEV, Jan. 27 - Prosecutors said Thursday they had opened a new criminal probe against Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko on suspicion of abusing power as the prime minister in 2009.

She is accused of exceeding her authority in a purchase of 1,000 new Opel Combo vans for the health service that cost the government about $8.3 million dollars, the prosecutors said in a statement.

"They have fabricated another case against me," Tymoshenko told reporters Thursday as she left the prosecutor general's office in Kiev. "It's a criminal move," she added, repeating claims that the investigations amounted to "political repression."