MEDICAL experts have confirmed that Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraines opposition leader, was poisoned in an attempt on his life during election campaigning, the doctor who supervised his treatment at an Austrian clinic said yesterday.
Doctors at Viennas exclusive Rudolfinerhaus clinic are within days of identifying the substance that left Mr Yushchenkos face disfigured with cysts and lesions, Nikolai Korpan told The Times in a telephone interview.
Specialists in Britain, the United States and France had helped to establish that it was a biological agent, a chemical agent or, most likely, a rare poison that struck him down in the run-up to the presidential election, he said. Doctors needed to examine Mr Yushchenko again at the clinic in Vienna to confirm their diagnosis but were in no doubt that the substance was administered deliberately, he said.
This is no longer a question for discussion, Dr Korpan said. We are now sure that we can confirm which substance caused this illness. He received this substance from other people who had a specific aim.
Asked if the aim had been to kill him, Dr Korpan said: Yes, of course.
Proof that Mr Yushchenko was deliberately poisoned would be a devastating blow for his rival, the Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych, as the two candidates prepare for a repeat of a presidential run-off on December 26.
It would raise questions about whether the poisoning was ordered by Mr Yanukovych, his allies, or even the Kremlin, which fears that Mr Yushchenko will take Ukraine out of its sphere of influence by joining Nato and the EU.
Mr 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.
Mr Yushchenko fell ill on September 6 and was rushed to Rudolfinerhaus four days later with severe abdominal pain and lesions on his face and trunk. His liver, pancreas and intestines were swollen and his digestive tract covered in ulcers, but doctors could not explain the symptoms. Against their advice he went back on the campaign trail after a week, but returned to the clinic two weeks later with back pain.
Again he returned to campaigning, with his face half paralysed and a catheter inserted in his back so that doctors  still baffled  could inject painkillers into his spinal column.
Rudolfinerhaus doctors had previously said that they did not have medical evidence to back up or rule out deliberate poisoning.
Mr Yanukovychs supporters ridiculed the opposition, saying the illness was probably caused by bad sushi, too much cognac or a severe case of herpes. A parliamentary investigation found no evidence of poisoning.
But Dr Korpan said that toxicologists and other experts at laboratories in Britain, the US and France had since examined Mr Yushchenkos blood samples and medical records. We will reveal the results in the near future and confirm the cause of this mysterious illness, he said. We need to check him again here in Vienna. If we received him today, we could finish the whole investigation in two or three days.
He declined to say exactly what the substance might have been, or where it might have come from. Maybe it was administered through injection, maybe in water, maybe through eating, but the way to give it to him is very simple. This substance can be given very precisely  to only one person, he said.
John Henry, a prominent British toxicologist, has suggested that Mr Yushchenkos symptoms were consistent with dioxin poisoning, which causes a severe form of acne called chloracne. Doctors at Rudolfinerhaus did not initially test Mr Yushchenko for dioxin, in part because his skin changes were not as severe as they are now. He also refused a biopsy of his face because he did not want to campaign with stitches. Other doctors have suggested that Mr Yushchenko may have been struck down by a rare illness.
Wiktor Juschtschenko

 Ärzte in Wien haben bestätigt, dass die rätselhafte Krankheit des ukrainischen Oppositionsführers Wiktor Juschtschenko (Partei „Unsere Ukraine“), die unter anderem Zysten und Schwellungen in seinem Gesicht sowie Schmerzen in der Bauchgegend erzeugt hat, durch ein Gift verursacht wurde, welches ihm während seines Wahlkampfes zur Präsidentschaftswahl in der Ukraine verabreicht wurde, sagte Nikolai Korpan von der österreichischen Klinik Rudolfinerhaus gegenüber der Londoner Times In früheren Mitteilungen sprachen die behandelnden Ärzte von einer der zivilen Medizin nicht bekannten Krankheit.

„Wir sind nun sicher, dass wir bestätigen können, welche Substanz diese Krankheit ausgelöst hat. Er hat diese Substanz von anderen Personen bekommen, die damit eine bestimmte Absicht verfolgt haben.“ Auf die Frage, ob dies ein Mordanschlag gewesen sei, sagte Korpan: „Ja, natürlich.“

Wie die Presseagentur (APA) meldet, hat Korpan inzwischen dementiert: „Die Vermutung einer Vergiftung ist bis heute weder bestätigt noch ausgeschlossen worden.“ Ohne eine weitere Untersuchung Juschtschenkos sei eine genaue Diagnose nicht möglich, von einer Vergiftung müsse jedoch ausgegangen werden.

Erste Anzeichen der Krankheit waren am 6. September 2004 festgestellt worden, als Wiktor Juschtschenko ins Krankenhaus eingeliefert wurde. Am Abend zuvor hatte er sich zu einem Abendessen mit Igor Smeschko, dem Chef der ukrainischen Staatssicherheit getroffen. Dieser hatte um das Treffen gebeten, um  Juschtschenko „eminent wichtige Informationen“ mitzuteilen. Während der Nacht traten die ersten Symptome der mutmaßlichen Vergiftung auf: Juschtschenko litt unter Unterleibs- und Rückenschmerzen, Gesichtsmuskeln waren gelähmt, er erbrach sich häufig. Vier Tage später ließ er sich in das Wiener Rudolfinerhaus bringen. Die Ärzte dort stellten Entzündungen in Magen, Dünndarm, Bauchspeicheldrüse und im Ohr fest. Die Leber war geschwollen und ein Gesichtsnerv gelähmt.