A doctor in Vienna is now insisting that Ukraine opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned during the campaign in what he’s openly calling an attempt to kill him. There’s conflicting information coming out, but Yushchenko’s camp seems to be saying the only questions remaining are which agent was used and by whom:
Doctors needed to examine Yushchenko again at the clinic in Vienna to confirm their diagnosis but were in no doubt that the substance was administered deliberately, [Doctor Nikolai Korpan] was quoted as saying.
[…] Proof that Yushchenko was deliberately poisoned would be a devastating blow for his rival, the prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, as the two candidates prepare for a repeat of a presidential run-off on December 26, The Times said.
It would raise questions about whether the poisoning was ordered by Yanukovich, his allies, or even the Kremlin, which fears that Yushchenko will take Ukraine out of its sphere of influence by joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union, it said.
Yushchenko had said recently that he would soon reveal proof that his opponents had tried to assassinate him, but a spokeswoman said he had no plans to travel to Vienna, the newspaper said.
At this point, it does seem possible that Yuschenko is playing this for political gain, but there’s no denying that something happened to him. One hestitates to think someone would willingly poison themselves, but how incompetent would his would-be assassins have to be to give him just enough to hurt him but not enough to kill him? Then again, what other explanation makes sense?
By the way, those photos of Yuschenko were only taken 5 months apart, the first in May of this year and the second last month. Shocking isn’t it?
I disagree that stating you are poisoned after the constant excruciating pain he has been through constitutes using this for political gain.
I should clarify Wilfred. At this point I think it’s still possible he poisoned himself. Just enough to make his opponent look bad.
I don’t think it’s likely, mind you. Just possible.
Man, what kind of poison makes you ugly? He looks twenty years older, but beyond that, he looks like a completely different person.
Just to be clear, I don’t know what to think, don’t know if I believe the docs, don’t know what’s up.
But: would be assassins wouldn’t have to be very incompetent to get him sick without killing him.
Poisoning people is easy. Poisoning people in ways that don’t look obvious (or cause them to throw the poison up) is difficult. If he was poisoned, it looks like they tried to introduce something into his system in small doses over an extended period. Good plan, unless your target changes habits or your agent loses access for some other reason.
I think I read somewhere — actually, I think it was in this week’s New Yorker, but the article is not online — that Yushchenko had dinner with the head of Ulraine’s security services the night before he got sick, to discuss security issues related to the campaign.