Ukraine's Presidential Elections
 

Opposition Calls for Strike in Ukraine

By NATASHA LISOVA, Associated Press Writer

KIEV, Ukraine - Opposition leaders called Wednesday for a nationwide strike to shut down factories, schools and transportation after officials declared Ukraine's pro-Kremlin prime minister the winner of a presidential runoff election that many countries denounced as rigged.

The call by reformist candidate Viktor Yushchenko and his allies for an "all-Ukrainian political strike" risked provoking a crackdown by outgoing President Leonid Kuchma's government, which has said the opposition's actions in the aftermath of Sunday's bitterly disputed runoff were, in effect, preparations for a coup d'etat.

A strike could also further divide the country: Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych drew his support from the pro-Russian, heavily industrialized eastern half of the country, while Yushchenko's strength was in the west, a traditional center of Ukrainian nationalism.

The rest of this article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ne_elections_8

Yeah so the cold war's back on apparently. Remember the good old days when Putin and Bush chopped wood together? Anyway, this is what needs to happens. Seperate power in the Ukraine into a few States/Republics/whatever. That way the Eastern part could have its way in the East, the Western part would have its way in the West, and we don't start the third world war. Does Turkey still have those nukes pointed at Moscow?

Ukrainian High Court Hearing Vote Appeal
 

By JIM HEINTZ, Associated Press Writer

KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine's Supreme Court gave the political opposition some breathing room Thursday, ruling that the results of a presidential election are not official until it hears an appeal from a Western-leaning candidate who says it was stolen from him.

But there were no indications that opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko's call for a national strike was taking hold, and it was unclear whether the high court even has the right to annul the vote count that gave victory to the Kremlin-backed candidate, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

The rest of this article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...aine_elections

A girl at my work is Ukraian. I'd bang her.

Your post is useless without pictures.

Momentum Builds for New Vote in Ukraine
 

By ANNA MELNICHUK, Associated Press Writer

KIEV, Ukraine - President Leonid Kuchma called on opposition demonstrators to end their four-day blockade of government buildings Sunday, saying compromise was needed to solve the political crisis that has engulfed Ukraine since its disputed presidential vote.

Representatives of the rival presidential candidates prepared to meet at the negotiating table again Sunday, a day after the opposition's hopes for a new vote got a boost from national lawmakers, who called the election invalid.

The rest of this article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...aine_elections

===============================

Between Ukraine's parliament making their (non-binding) declaration, and President Kuchma's call for new elections, there is hope for a legitimate result and for no bloody civil war.

I agree, pics please.

Tonights Rally for Viktor Yushchenko
 

no pix availible. Is married to ex navy seal. Plus I was pretty wasted when I said that.


back on topic:
I'm glad we live in a country where elections aren't stymied by the judical process with candidates having lawyers and um...uh....IRONY! IRONY!

DId you see Charlie Rose Friday night? An author was talking about how by most counting methods, Al Gore would have won in 2000. BUT, the method that the Gore campaign wanted to use would have resulted in a Bush victory. This means that if the courts went along with Gore, Bush would still have been president.

Moving back to Ukraine, this issue is very important. If the former Warsaw Pact nations, and CIS nations are to move forward and stabilize, they need to become democratic. This has huge implications for American security, as well global stability.

Ukraine Rivals Reach Compromise Deal
 

By ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC, Associated Press Writer

KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine's opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko signed a deal Wednesday that obliged his supporters to lift their siege of government buildings, but he said his followers will stay on the streets until an agreement is reached on a new vote for the country's presidency.

Yushchenko held face-to-face talks with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych — his rival for the presidency — hours after the opposition showed its strength by bringing down Yanukovych's government with a no-confidence in parliament.

After the talks, Yushchenko proposed that a new run-off vote between him and Yanukovych be held Dec. 19. Speaking to his supporters in the street, he said he would not accept a whole new election — an idea suggested earlier by outgoing President Leonid Kuchma — and urged his backers not to give up their massive demonstrations.

"Protests in the streets will, of course, continue," Yushchenko said after the talks at the Mariinskly Palace presidential residence. "They would be lifted only after a date is set for a new election and changes introduced into the election law."

The rest of the article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...raine_election

Ukraine High Court Calls for New Election
 

By NATASHA LISOVA, Associated Press Writer

KIEV, Ukraine - The Supreme Court declared the results of Ukraine's disputed presidential run-off election invalid and ruled Friday that the run-off should be repeated by Dec. 26, bringing cheers from tens of thousands of opposition supported massed in Kiev's main square.

The ruling, made after five days of hearings by the court's 18 justices, was a major victory for opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, who had rejected the government's demands that an entirely new election be held.

The opposition had pinned its hopes on the court's ruling in its bid to overturn the results of the Nov. 21 run-off vote in which Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych was declared the winner. The opposition said the vote was rigged to cheat Yushchenko of victory.

Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma had been pressing for an entirely new election, apparently in hopes of replacing Yanukovych with a stronger candidate.

The rest of this article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ne_election_10

Ukraine Opposition Suffers Setback
 

By ANNA MELNICHUK, Associated Press Writer

KIEV, Ukraine - Supporters of opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko lost a round to their foes in parliament Saturday, when pro-government lawmakers helped block legal changes intended to prevent fraud in the Dec. 26 repeat of the country's presidential runoff vote.

Buoyed by a momentous Supreme Court ruling a day earlier that ordered the new vote, Yushchenko's supporters vowed to force parliament to adopt the legislation by continuing their marathon protest in Kiev's central square.

Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma tried to bring European pressure on the opposition, which he accused of reneging on its promises. Kuchma called for a new round of European-mediated talks with the opposition on Monday.

The jockeying for position came as the opposition celebrated its court victory, confident Yushchenko can beat Prime Minster Viktor Yanukovych if a fair runoff is held. Yanukovych, Kuchma's ally, confirmed he would compete in the new vote, and the Central Election Commission formally set a Dec. 26 date for the balloting, as ordered by the court.

Yushchenko had been hoping for quick approval of a raft of bills that would amend election laws and reshuffle the election commission, which the opposition accused of covering up fraud in the initial runoff, held Nov. 21. The opposition says the changes are needed to ensure the new vote is fair.

The rest of the article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ine_election_3

Activists Steadfast on Ukraine Vote Reform
 

By ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC, Associated Press Writer

KIEV, Ukraine - Supporters of opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko kept up their siege of government buildings Sunday, determined to push through election law changes designed to ensure a fair vote in Ukraine's new presidential runoff even after pro-government lawmakers blocked the amendments.

Yushchenko's fiery ally, lawmaker Yuliya Tymoshenko, warned that the opposition must not assume the repeat vote will be free and fair. But she insisted Yushchenko will prevail against Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who is backed by outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and Russia's President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites).

"We are confident of a colossal victory by Yushchenko," she told journalists, adding that fewer officials are now willing to falsify the vote. "Something has changed, thanks to the people," Tymoshenko said.

Thousands of orange-clad protesters — many grimy after living for two weeks in the opposition's sprawling tent camp on a Kiev main street — have vowed to remain until the election laws are passed. Protesters on Sunday also filled out questionnaires in the camps to sign up as polling station monitors.

The rest of the article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...raine_election

Ukraine Opposition Leader Opens Campaign
 

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer

KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko kicked off campaigning for the Dec. 26 presidential election rerun Sunday with a call for quick passage of anti-fraud legislation. Supporters signed up by the thousands to monitor balloting and ensure a fair vote. _

"We are witnessing a struggle between forces of good and forces of evil," Yushchenko told throngs of chanting supporters gathered at Kiev's main square and waving his campaign's orange flags.

"The entire world is applauding our victory. The entire world is proud of Ukraine."

While thousands of pro-Yushchenko demonstrators marked two weeks of a round-the-clock vigil in downtown Kiev, supporters of his rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, were largely out of sight in eastern regions near Russia — Yanukovych's stronghold.

The Moscow-backed Yanukovych has not been seen in public since Friday's Supreme Court ruling canceling his Nov. 21 runoff victory over Yushchenko because of fraud. On Sunday, campaign representatives did not answer repeated phone calls.

The rest of the article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ine_election_2

==========================

I find that "We are witnessing a struggle between forces of good and forces of evil" statement to be a bit extreme. I support Yushchenko (for whatever that's worth,) but if he should win, this is one country that will need someone to reunify it. Such statements don't offer that kind of hope.

Doctors Probe: Was Yushchenko Poisoned?
 

By Alexandra Zawadil

VIENNA (Reuters) - Poisoning remains one of the possibilities behind Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko's illness during election campaigning, Medical experts investigating his ailments said on Wednesday.

Yushchenko fell ill in September while on the presidential campaign trail and was flown to Austria for treatment. He later accused the authorities of trying to kill him with poison.

The Times newspaper in Britain on Wednesday quoted West-leaning Yushchenko's personal physician in Vienna, Mykola Korpan, as saying that the opposition leader had been poisoned in an attempt on his life.

The rest of this article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ko_hospital_dc

U.S. Sends Observers to Ukraine for Vote
 

By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The United States will send 100 observers to Ukraine for this month's scheduled presidential election, a rerun of voting that Ukraine's top court had found illegitimate. _

The U.S. observers will be part of a 960-member team fielded by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for the Dec. 26 vote. The United States will also spend $3 million toward election monitoring, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Wednesday.

The rest of this article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...e/us_ukraine_1

U.S. Money Helped Opposition in Ukraine
 

By MATT KELLEY, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has spent more than $65 million in the past two years to aid political organizations in Ukraine, paying to bring opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko to meet U.S. leaders and helping to underwrite exit polls indicating he won last month's disputed runoff election. _

U.S. officials say the activities don't amount to interference in Ukraine's election, as Russian President Vladimir Putin alleges, but are part of the $1 billion the State Department spends each year trying to build democracy worldwide.

No U.S. money was sent directly to Ukrainian political parties, the officials say. In most cases, it was funneled through organizations like the Carnegie Foundation or through groups aligned with Republicans and Democrats that organized election training, with human rights forums or with independent news outlets.

But officials acknowledge some of the money helped train groups and individuals opposed to the Russian-backed government candidate — people who now call themselves part of the Orange revolution.

The rest of this article is here: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...ine_election_3

Doctors: Yushchenko Poisoned With Dioxin
 

By SUSANNA LOOF, Associated Press Writer

VIENNA, Austria - Dioxin poisoning caused the mysterious illness of Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, a doctor said Saturday, adding that the poison could have been put in his soup. _

"There is no doubt about the fact that Mr. Yushchenko's disease has been caused by a case of poisoning by dioxin," said Dr. Michael Zimpfer, director of Vienna's private Rudolfinerhaus clinic.

Zimpfer said Yushchenko's blood and tissue registered concentrations of dioxin — one of the most toxic chemicals — that were 1,000 times above normal levels.

"It would be quite easy to administer this amount in a soup," Zimpfer said, adding that tests showed the dioxin was taken orally. "There is suspicion of third party involvement."

Tests run over the past 24 hours provided conclusive evidence of the poisoning, Zimpfer said.

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com...on_xkiv101.jpg

The rest of this article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...hchenko_health

I have just caught up on what is going on. THAT is HORRIBLE. :( Do they have any idea who did it?

I don't think so. What happened to Yushchenko, in terms of the poisoning, terrible.

Also, what I think is so important, is what may now be happening in Russia (sliding back from democratic reforms,) and how this possible slide-back is manifesting in Russia's willingness to support a fraudulent election of a government that is sympatico with Russia. The dominant sphere of nations are those that share Atlanticist views. These are basically the NATO nations. On the European side of the Atlantic Ocean, the EU is the European specific organization that represents this. As it expands, Europe's economic interdependence expands, and with this, peace and prosperity expands among these nations. Yushchenko wants to bring Ukraine into this sphere (which is also tied into North America,) and away from Russia's shrinking sphere. I've hoped, since the fall of the Berlin Wall (which I watched on CNN in my Phi Psi house,) that Russia, and other former Warsaw Pact and USSR nations, would become part of this. So far things have moved in this direction.

I wish that Putin would see that Ukraine becoming part of the EU (which is anything but a done deal) would help pave the way for Russia's eventual membership, and that this would be a good thing for Russia.

Before and After
 

On the left is Yushchenko on March 28, 2002. On the right is Yushchenko on December 6, 2004.

http://tinypic.com/vz2o6

This is terrible. I just read this article in the NY Times about the dioxin poisoning. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/in...12ukraine.html

He looks like an entirely different man in those before and after pictures. He is lucky to be alive.

Yushchenko Goes Home Following Treatment
 

VIENNA, Austria - Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko left a Vienna clinic on Sunday after being diagnosed with dioxin poisoning, saying he was just "happy to be alive."

.
.
.

Doctors say he will be able to return to the campaign trail, but that it could be two to three years before his face heals.

The entire article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...hchenko_health

Funny how they deny marriage and other human rights here and strive to support democracy elsewhere.

U.S. Hypocrisy in Ukraine


HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS
BEFORE THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE
December 7, 2004
U.S. Hypocrisy in Ukraine
Mr. Chairman: President Bush said last week that, "Any election (in Ukraine), if there is one, ought to be free from any foreign influence." I agree with the president wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, it seems that several US government agencies saw things differently and sent US taxpayer dollars into Ukraine in an attempt to influence the outcome.
We do not know exactly how many millions - or tens of millions - of dollars the United States government spent on the presidential election in Ukraine. We do know that much of that money was targeted to assist one particular candidate, and that through a series of cut-out non-governmental organizations (NGOs) - both American and Ukrainian - millions of dollars ended up in support of the presidential candidate, Viktor Yushchenko.
Let me add that I do not think we should be supporting either of the candidates.
While I am certainly no supporter of Viktor Yushchenko, I am not a supporter of his opponent, Viktor Yanukovich, either. Simply, it is none of our business who the Ukrainian people select to be their president. And, if they feel the vote was not fair, it is up to them to work it out.
How did this one-sided US funding in Ukraine come about? While I am afraid we may have seen only the tip of the iceberg, one part that we do know thus far is that the US government, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), granted millions of dollars to the Poland-America-Ukraine Cooperation Initiative (PAUCI), which is administered by the US-based Freedom House.
PAUCI then sent US Government funds to numerous Ukrainian non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This would be bad enough and would in itself constitute meddling in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation. But, what is worse is that many of these grantee organizations in Ukraine are blatantly in favor of presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko.
Consider the Ukrainian NGO International Centre for Policy Studies. It is an organization funded by the US Government through PAUCI, but on its website you will find that the front page in the English section features a prominent orange ribbon, the symbol of Yushchenko’s party and movement. Reading further on, we discover that this NGO was founded by George Soros’s Open Society Institute. And further on we can see that Viktor Yushchenko himself sits on the advisory board!

And this NGO is not the only one the US government funds that is openly supportive of Viktor Yushchenko. The Western Ukraine Regional Training Center, as another example, features a prominent USAID logo on one side of its website’s front page and an orange ribbon of the candidate Yushchenko’s party and movement on the other. By their proximity, the message to Ukrainian readers is clear: the US government supports Yushchenko.
The Center for Political and Law Reforms, another Ukrainian NGO funded by the US government, features a link at the top of its website’s front page to Viktor Yushchenko’s personal website. Yushchenko’s picture is at the top of this US government funded website.

This May, the Virginia-based private management consultancy Development Associates, Inc., was awarded $100 million by the US government “for strengthening national legislatures and other deliberative bodies worldwide.” According to the organization’s website, several million dollars from this went to Ukraine in advance of the elections.
As I have said, this may only be the tip of the iceberg. There may be many more such organizations involved in this twisted tale.
It is clear that a significant amount of US taxpayer dollars went to support one candidate in Ukraine. Recall how most of us felt when it became known that the Chinese government was trying to funnel campaign funding to a US presidential campaign. This foreign funding of American elections is rightly illegal. Yet, it appears that that is exactly what we are doing abroad. What we do not know,
however, is just how much US government money was spent to influence the outcome of the Ukrainian election.
Dozens of organizations are granted funds under the PAUCI program alone, and this is only one of many programs that funneled dollars into Ukraine. We do not know how many millions of US taxpayer dollars the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) sent to Ukraine through NED’s National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute. Nor do we know how many other efforts, overt or covert, have been made to support one candidate over the other in Ukraine.
That is what I find so disturbing: there are so many cut-out organizations and sub-grantees that we have no idea how much US government money was really spent on Ukraine, and most importantly how it was spent. Perhaps the several examples of blatant partisan support that we have been able to uncover are but an anomaly. I believe Congress and the American taxpayers have a right to know. I believe we urgently need an investigation by the Government Accounting Office into how much US government money was spent in Ukraine and exactly how it was spent. I would hope very much for the support of Chairman Hyde, Chairman Lugar, Deputy Assistant Secretary Tefft, and my colleagues on the Committee in this request.
President Bush is absolutely correct: elections in Ukraine should be free of foreign influence. It is our job here and now to discover just how far we have violated this very important principle, and to cease any funding of political candidates or campaigns henceforth.

Please leave non-sequiturs out of this thread. There is nothing hypocritical about supporting national self-determination.

so you're saying it's ok for the US to spend millions to influence another country's election and thus ok for foreign nations to spend millions to influence US elections?

Because currently the US balks at foreign countries attempting to influence US elections but gladly influences the elections of other nations. And that is where Rep. Paul finds the US to be hypocritical.

I already posted about the U.S. spending money on Ukraine's elections earlier in this thread.

Lets get this thread back on track to Ukraine. If you want to discuss this other issue, start another thread.

It is about the Ukraine- and the gov't trying to fuck up Ukraine's election with their support of Yushenko.

That's a total B.S. answer Look at all of the events in context, and just from an "I hate America and will look for any tangent to trash America" angle.

The elections were not "fucked up" by American influence. Apparantly, no one outside of Russia believes this but you. Nations like France, which want to curtail American influence on other parts of the World, are with America on this one. Just about everyone is with America on this one. This is Russia vs. the rest of the World, and I'm with the rest of the World. I'm even more with America. Most of all, I'm with Ukrainian self-determination.

Ukraine should be decalred a Federal Republic. Its horrible to live there now no matter who the next president is.

Ukraine Government Aims to Control Poison Probe
 

By DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press Writer

KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine's outgoing government sought Monday to control the inquiry into the poisoning of presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, with officials close to the government taking charge of both investigations into who tried to harm or kill the leader of the "Orange Revolution."

The head of a new inquiry by lawmakers — an ally of Yushchenko's opponent in the court-ordered Dec. 26 presidential rematch — immediately cast doubt on whether deliberate poisoning could be proven. The decision by a parliamentary commission to reopen its probe came a day after a similar move by the country's new top prosecutor.

Yushchenko praised Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun on Sunday for resuming the investigation after an elite clinic in Austria determined over the weekend he had been poisoned by dioxin. But he said he hoped the investigation would be conducted after the election because he didn't want it to influence the vote "positively or negatively."

The rest of this article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...raine_election

Ukraine's Orange Revolution Hits the Road
 

By ANNA MELNICHUK, Associated Press Writer

KIEV, Ukraine - Supporters of opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko took the so-called Orange Revolution on the road Tuesday, piling into cars and buses for a 10-day odyssey to spread their message beyond the capital, targeting eastern provinces largely hostile to their candidate.

With sirens blaring and trademark orange flags unfurled, more than 150 opposition supporters left Kiev, hoping to win over voters in areas where support for Yushchenko's opponent, Viktor Yanukovych, has been strong. The two candidates face off in a Dec. 26 rematch following a Supreme Court ruling that annulled a fraud-tainted Nov. 21 runoff in which Yanukovych claimed victory.

"We would like the spirit of civil resistance to reach everyone's heart," said Vasyl Kuderiavets, a 34-year-old businessman from the western city of Lviv. "Everyone wants to be free. But not everyone realizes that."

Compelled by Yushchenko's appeal to abandon protests and take up the election campaign, artists, musicians, businessmen and filmmakers set off on a journey many said was necessary because the state-run media had blocked news of their movement from reaching the rest of this former Soviet republic.

They plan to show videos of the protests from Kiev's Independence Square, to organize rallies — and to leave graffiti on every gray wall they find.

"In some Ukrainian regions, people live as if they were in ghettos, isolated from information on what is actually going on in the country — living totally like in Soviet times," said Vakhtang Kipiani, the anchor of a private television station.

The rest of this article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...raine_election

Ukraine's Yushchenko Regrets Effects of Poison
 

By Ron Popeski

KIEV (Reuters) - Liberal candidate Viktor Yushchenko expressed unease on Wednesday at the effects of dioxin poisoning on his pocked face, but said he was fit to be president and predicted voters would hand him a landslide victory.

Yushchenko, who takes on Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich in a Dec. 26 re-run of last month's rigged presidential poll, says authorities poisoned him in a murder attempt. Austrian doctors last week detected dioxin in him 1,000 times the normal level.

The liberal challenger drew vast crowds into the street to back his charges of mass fraud in the Nov. 21 run-off in which Yanukovich was declared the winner. The Supreme Court annulled the result and ordered a new vote between the two men.

The West-leaning Yushchenko denies suggestions by his rival that he is too ill to take office, but showed he was affected by the poisoning, which has left his face bloated and discolored.

"I have apologized dozens of times for my face. Please believe me that more than anyone else I would like it to be the way it was three months ago. Time is needed for that," he told a news conference.

"In political terms, let me say that I am in good shape and able to work. In moral and ethical terms, I regret that I look like this at the moment. But over time everything will be OK."

Austrian doctors say Yushchenko is in good physical condition. Prosecutors have reopened a criminal case into the incident, launched when Yushchenko first fell ill in September but subsequently closed.

The rest of this article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._nm/ukraine_dc

NATO Eyes Closer Ukraine Ties if Yushchenko Wins
 

By Mark John

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO is ready to speed Ukraine toward closer ties and membership if pro-West presidential frontrunner Viktor Yushchenko wins a revote on Dec. 26, alliance sourcesand diplomats said on Thursday. _

The prospect of Ukraine entering the Western club within as little as five years would be sure to dismay Moscow, which views the ex-Soviet republic as a buffer on NATO's eastern flank. But that would not stop rapprochement if Kiev is ready, they said.

"Of course we must take Russia into account. But if Ukraine is willing, we'll talk to it whether Russia likes it or not," said one NATO source who requested anonymity.

"It's too early to rush into full membership talks just yet," said a second source. "But NATO would want to respond some how to a Yushchenko victory," he said, suggesting NATO could look instead to upgrade its existing lower-level ties with Kiev.

Western governments are remaining tight-lipped on Ukraine's future ahead of the Dec. 26 re-run to avoid fueling Russian accusations of meddling. They stress they will work with any candidate who wins free and democratic elections.

Yushchenko takes on Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich in a re-run of last month's presidential poll second round won by Yanukovich, which was annulled by the Supreme Court after charges of mass fraud.

The rest of this article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ato_ukraine_dc

Official Denies Poisoning Yushchenko
 

By YURAS KARMANAU, Associated Press Writer

KIEV, Ukraine - Supporters of Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko reconsidered plans to travel to his opponent's eastern stronghold after a tense standoff, and a U.S. congressional delegation arrived in Ukraine Saturday to press for fairness in the Dec. 26 runoff election.

Meanwhile, a top security agency official whose house was pinpointed by Yushchenko as the probable site of his poisoning denied any involvement in slipping the opposition leader a dose of the toxic chemical dioxin.

Dozens of angry ethnic Russian supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych staged a blockade late Friday as the convoy — some 50 cars draped with Yushchenko's orange colors and carrying mostly artists and musicians touring the country to campaign for the opposition leader — sought to cross onto the Crimean peninsula, said convoy coordinator Olga Khodovanets.

Yushchenko's backers then traveled on to the Crimean capital Simferopol, where they showed videos and photos of the massive opposition protests that swept the capital Kiev for two weeks after Yanukovych, Ukraine's Prime Minister, was declared the winner of the first runoff vote on Nov. 21.

Yushchenko won a Supreme Court ruling that threw out results of that election because of fraud and ordered a repeat vote Dec. 26.

The rest of this article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ko_poisoning_4

this is fearless leader calling boris badenov. Come in boris.

Ukraine Rivals Square Off in Live TV Debate
 

By Olena Horodetska

KIEV (Reuters) - Rivals in Ukraine's scandal-ridden presidential polls traded barbs in a live television debate on Monday, with each candidate accusing the other of corruption and manipulation ahead of Sunday's decisive rerun vote.

Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, whose supporters protested for weeks the result of a Nov. 21 vote that handed victory to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, said Ukraine had won freedom with what is now dubbed the Orange Revolution.

Yanukovich, defensive and speaking Russian -- the language preferred in Ukraine's eastern industrial regions -- said the mass protests amounted to little more than an "orange coup," staged to steal an election he won fairly.

He also warned Yushchenko, whose face has become pock-marked by poisoning, that he would never become president of all of Ukraine, only the more nationalist western Ukrainian-speaking half keen to move closer to central Europe.

"You think, Viktor Andreyevich (Yushchenko), that you will win and become president of Ukraine. You are making a huge mistake. You will be president of part of Ukraine," Yanukovich said facing his rival across a stark, dark blue studio. At the height of the political crisis, several eastern regions supporting the prime minister threatened to hold a referendum on stronger autonomy from Kiev, highlighting a historic fault line in the country between east and west.

The rest of this article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...m/ukraine_dc_4

Tens of Thousands Rally In Ukraine To Demand Fair Vote Rerun
 

KIEV (AFP) - Tens of thousands of supporters of Ukraine's opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko massed in the center of the capital in a fresh show of force to press demands that a repeat presidential election be conducted fairly unlike a discredited poll last month. _

"In the past 17 days, we have changed Ukraine peacefully, beautifully, elegantly and without a single drop of blood being shed," Yushchenko, flanked by family and well-known supporters including Ukraine's world heavyweight boxing champ Vitali Klitschko, said in an address to the crowd.

"We have two roads before us: one of corruption and humiliation ... the other, a wider one, the road of truth and justice. We have already set foot down this road," the opposition leader said before the crowd broke into thunderous chants of "Yu-shchen-ko! Yu-shchen-ko!"

The 50-year-old opposition leader, whose face was disfigured during the election campaign earlier this autumn by what experts have said was a poisoning, vowed to work to unite his country badly split over an earlier election ruled fraudulent and thrown out by the supreme court.

The rest of this article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...fp/ukrainevote

Have they voted yet?