Dioxin for dinner: President's poisoning inexplicably unsolved
Dioxin poisoning of presidential candidate Victor Yushchenko nearly killed this historic Ukrainian leader and hopes for a better country. While his disfigured face helped rally voter support against an oppressive regime, the case remains unsolved and seems now destined to haunt Yushchenko’s legacy.
Yushchenko maintains the poisoning took place on the night of Sept. 5, 2004, at the dacha of Volodymyr Satsyuk, deputy head of the State Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, at the time. Two other men, SBU chief Ihor Smeshko and Yushchenko confidant David Zhvania, were also there. For unexplained reasons, Yushchenko’s chief of security, Yevhen Chervonenko, was instructed to stay away.
Satsyuk and other individuals wanted in connection with the case are reportedly hiding out in Russia. Moscow has declined to provide dioxin samples from a specialized lab that produces the deadly chemical – one of few in the world.
Zhvania, who organized the meeting, was questioned by prosecutors several times. In 2005, Zhvania claimed that the poisoning must have occurred elsewhere. More recently, after a war of words between Zhvania and Yushchenko broke out in the media, Zhvania maintained that no poisoning had ever occurred. The president’s former financial backer says that food poisoning and poor health caused the disfigurement of the face of Yushchenko, who is godfather to Zhvania’s son. Yushchenko responded by accusing Zhvania of being involved in the poisoning.
Journalists following the case closely say the investigation has not been handled professionally and that it is far from being solved. Yushchenko’s critics and opponents have accused the president of exploiting the case for political reasons.On Sept. 5, prosecutors questioned Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko for five hours in connection with the poisoning.
