Yushchenko victim of chemical poisoning (09/26/04)

Yushchenko victim of chemical poisoning

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - National Deputy Yuri Kostenko said on September 21 that the presidential campaign team of Viktor Yushchenko had information that ricin was the chemical agent that nearly killed the presidential candidate.

"I would like to say that this is merely a portion of the information that we have gathered," explained Mr. Kostenko in an interview broadcast on Radio Liberty. Mr. Kostenko is chairman of the National Party, which is a primary member of the Our Ukraine political bloc headed by National Deputy Yushchenko. He is also a member of the executive committee of the Power of the People coalition, the political organization spearheading the Yushchenko presidential candidacy.

Mr. Yushchenko, puffy-faced, drooling and teary-eyed, made his first public appearance on September 18 after being released from a Viennese hospital, where he had been treated for an acute and still mysterious case of chemical poisoning as well as pancreatitis, colitis and gastritis, all a result of the poisoning.

The current leader in the race for the presidential seat told a crowd of some 15,000 supporters that he would not be stopped in his quest to win the presidency, no matter what methods might still be used by those out to restrain him.

"You will not poison us. You do not have enough bullets and KamAZ trucks. You cannot break us," said Mr. Yushchenko, his voice strong and unwavering, although he did not look well. Throughout his speech he dabbed a handkerchief to swollen eyes and partially paralyzed lips that did not allow him to speak or swallow properly.

Mr. Yushchenko told the rally, which was simulcast to about a half million Ukrainians gathered in town and city centers throughout Ukraine, that "the bandit state authorities want one thing: to continue to rule at all costs."

In an appearance that had been planned before the onset of the ordeal that nearly cost him his life, the presidential candidate went on to call for unity in the country, as well as for support from all the regions. He extolled voters not to fear going to the polls on election day and to cast their ballot for a candidate of their own choosing.

Three days later, on September 21, looking somewhat better but still unable to speak distinctly, Mr. Yushchenko openly told an attentive and deadly silent Parliament on September 21 that state authorities were responsible for his poisoning two weeks earlier. He did not name names outright, but the insinuations were clear.

"Today we are talking about a political kitchen that orders murders. The next one could be you," said Mr. Yushchenko, emotion again charging his usually restrained delivery. He said state authorities were ready to do whatever it takes to retain power on election day.

In most current political surveys Mr. Yushchenko holds a 6 percent to 8 percent lead over his closest competitor, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, the candidate in this field of 25 presidential hopefuls who has the support of the state leadership, including President Leonid Kuchma.

At one point during his address to the Verkhovna Rada - which was given prior to a floor vote that overwhelmingly supported the creation of an ad hoc investigative committee to determine how the presidential candidate was poisoned - Mr. Yushchenko had to stop momentarily to regain his composure after he recalled the harrowing experience he has been through in the last two weeks.

Mr. Yushchenko was hospitalized on September 10 in Vienna after being flown there from Kyiv, where his condition had deteriorated badly even under the care of doctors. The former prime minister, a robust and physically active man, had taken ill the evening of September 5 after returning from the Chernihiv Oblast with what at first looked to be a bad case of stomach flu. After extensive testing by a team of 12 Austrian doctors, including one originally from Ukraine, Mr. Yushchenko was diagnosed with acute chemical poisoning and pancreatitis.

During his address in the Verkhovna Rada Mr. Yushchenko threw aside the indirectness and muted tones of political politeness and graciousness for which he is known. While not outrightly naming names, he made it very plain whom he blamed for what he and his campaign team are considering an attempt on his life. He grouped his own brush with death with the untimely deaths of several prominent Ukrainian politicians in recent years, including the mysterious automobile accident that killed Vyacheslav Chornovil in 1999 and the murder of Mr. Yushchenko's mentor, former National Bank of Ukraine Chairman Vadym Hetman, who was shot at close range in his apartment building, as well as the death of journalist Heorhii Gongadze in 2000.

"Some in the Prosecutor General's Office at one point were bold enough to reveal that the culprit's name began with the letter 'K,'" explained Mr. Yushchenko, referring to information distributed by the country's top law enforcement agency some months ago on who may have slain Mr. Gongadze.

"They, unfortunately did not have the courage to fill in the rest of the letters," Mr. Yushchenko continued, making a clear reference to the sitting Ukrainian president.

Mr. Yushchenko also had harsh words for parliamentary colleagues who had dismissed his condition as being the result of a preference for exotic Japanese foods or of a drinking binge. In the days after his campaign team announced that Mr. Yushchenko was recovering from a near fatal poisoning that may have been an assassination attempt, the major television channels covered the story by including remarks from the presidential candidate's political opponents, which included suggestions that his exotic and very un-Ukrainian culinary tastes or a predilection to alcohol abuse may have caused his condition.

As the session hall fell deathly silent, Mr. Yushchenko challenged the lawmakers to speak up publicly if they believed what had been said about him.

"Tell me, in the last 10-15 years, raise your hands and tell me if you have ever seen me drunk or out of control," challenged Mr. Yushchenko. "I am not a gourmand of the Eastern nor the Western kitchen. I eat the same meals as you and 47 million other Ukrainians: borsch, potatoes and salo."

The latter part of the statement was aimed directly at National Deputy Oleksander Moroz, who had said on September 18 that Mr. Yushchenko should tone down his taste for bourgeois delights.

Mr. Yushchenko also singled out parliamentary majority leader Stepan Havrysh, who had stated that the presidential candidate should eat less sushi. Mr. Havrysh took to the podium after Mr. Yushchenko's address to directly and unequivocally apologize for making the crass comments before he had known the entire story.

Soon after the Verkhovna Rada voted nearly unanimously, with 425 votes in the affirmative, to support Mr. Yushchenko's call for a parliamentary investigation into the matter, Ukraine's Procurator General's Office announced that it would begin its own investigation into the poisoning of the presidential candidate.

President Leonid Kuchma, who had asked on September 20 that an investigation into the matter take place, expressed no amazement over the ordeal experienced by Mr. Yushchenko.

"I didn't have to be an astrologer to have predicted that these will be the dirtiest elections ever in an independent Ukraine," said Mr. Kuchma on September 21 during a working visit to Pavlohrad, near Dnipropetrovsk.

Meanwhile, Procurator General Hennadii Vasyliev, while stating that an investigation would take place into the circumstances surrounding Mr. Yushchenko's illness, openly questioned whether the poisoning took place in Ukraine.

"He left for Vienna looking normal, but returned very different," noted the chief prosecutor of Ukraine.

Mr. Yushchenko's ordeal started when he began to feel ill on September 5. That evening he began to vomit uncontrollably. Even as doctors worked on the father of six, his condition continued to deteriorate. On September 9, with Mr. Yushchenko getting no better and complaining of general pain in the head, lung, abdominal and spinal regions, a decision was made by his family and his campaign team to transport the presidential candidate to Rudolfinerhaus, a renowned Viennese medical clinic. There a team of 12 doctors did extensive blood and radiological testing on the presidential candidate, including CAT scans of the brain.

Dr. Mykola Korpan, a Ukrainian doctor who was part of the medical team, told various Ukrainian mass media on September 21 that the testing showed that Mr. Yushchenko was suffering "an atypical medical condition," which had affected various organs of his body. Dr. Korpan explained that no known poisoning from food or drink, which would generally be bacterial in nature, could result in the symptoms exhibited by Mr. Yushchenko, including localized paralysis, pain in the lungs, erosion and bleeding of the pancreas and inflammation of the large intestine.

"We can only theoretically conjecture that this resulted from the intake of an unusual substance. This could not come from normal food poisoning," explained Dr. Korpan, who expressly excluded contaminated sushi, fish and eggs or alcohol as the culprit.

"While alcohol can result in pancreatitis, for instance, it will not result in acute colitis, it will not give acute gastritis, and it will not result in paralysis of a nerve of a face and pain in the pulmonary cavity," added the specialist.

Dr. Korpan said the doctors tried to determine via a blood analysis what chemical substance had poisoned Mr. Yushchenko, but - since some 96 hours had passed from the onset of the symptoms - nothing was detected. He explained that the body rids itself of most internal contamination within 48 hours and noted that only a forensic medical specialist would be able to draw conclusions as to specifically what substance could have done the damage that occurred in Mr. Yushchenko's body. He said that for the Austrian doctors the primary task had been to stabilize the Ukrainian politician's condition and treat his symptoms.

"For 24 hours we fought for his life - not to determine what had caused the problems," explained Dr. Korpan.

He suggested also that while the poison could have entered the body via the breathing passages or through a handshake or in a drink, more than likely Mr. Yushchenko ingested the substance with his food, inasmuch as the stomach, pancreas and intestines were directly affected.

The doctor also noted that had Mr. Yushchenko waited another day before arriving in Vienna for treatment, his chance for survival would have dropped to about 20 percent.

FOR THE RECORD: John Kerry's statement on Ukraine's elections

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