MOSCOW, Dec. 12 -- The Ukrainian prosecutor general's office has reopened a criminal investigation into the disfiguring illness that struck presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, according to news media reports Sunday. The decision followed an announcement by Austrian physicians Saturday that Yushchenko was poisoned by dioxin, a toxic substance that might have been slipped into his food.
Yushchenko left a private clinic in Vienna on Sunday to return to the campaign trail in Ukraine, where he faces a Dec. 26 rerun election in a bitter presidential race against Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. The Ukrainian Supreme Court ordered a new vote after it invalidated a Nov. 21 runoff because of widespread fraud.
Michael Zimpfer, director of the Rudolfinerhaus clinic, shows Ukrainian candidate Viktor Yushchenko to his seat at a news conference.
(Herwig Prammer -- Reuters)
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Yushchenko, who has accused unnamed opponents in the government of attempting to assassinate him, also endorsed a new investigation. But he said he wanted to delay any probe until after the next round of voting and that he would not discuss the poisoning again until then.
"I don't want this factor to influence the election in some way -- either as a plus or a minus," Yushchenko told reporters after checking out of the Rudolfinerhaus clinic, where he was first treated after falling ill in September. "This question will require a great deal of time and serious investigation. Let us do it after the election -- today is not the moment."
Increasingly confident of victory, Yushchenko said Sunday that "the regime that was in place for 14 years in Ukraine is now living its last days." And he again saluted protesters who participated in mass demonstrations in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, demanding a new vote.
"We had not seen anything like that for the past 100 years," he said. "I believe it would be appropriate to compare this to the fall of the Soviet Union or the fall of the Berlin Wall."
Dioxins, a group of chlorinated organic compounds, are a byproduct in the manufacture of many industrial chemicals and a common contaminant from waste incineration. The compounds are known to cause reproductive and developmental problems, and are believed to cause several types of cancer. In high doses, dioxins also produce extreme skin eruptions known as chloracne.
In October, Ukrainian prosecutors dismissed the allegation of poisoning and said Yushchenko's disfigurement was caused by a latent herpes viral infection. His opponents also suggested that he had become ill after eating bad sushi.
Senior government officials in Ukraine, including Yanukovych, have not commented directly on the finding that Yushchenko was poisoned.
Doctors in Vienna said Yushchenko, whose discolored face is now scarred, would have to endure a long recovery period.
"He will now undergo a long and difficult treatment," said Michael Zimpfer, director of the Rudolfinerhaus clinic.
