Yushchenko, Viktor

Dioxin poisoning has recently been in the news again, as it was believed to have been the agent used in an attempt to poison the Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko in 2004. It was reported that dioxin was detected in his blood at 6,000 times the level expected in a human. His face is now disfigured by chloracne, a known effect of this poisoning. It remains to be seen what other toxic effects become apparent. 

FIGURE 18.3. Dioxin poisoning - Ukrainian former Prime Minister and presidential candidate Mr Viktor Yushchenko, with his face disfigured hy illness due to dioxin poisoning. Photo sorrrce www.tnindfldly.org date November 19, 2004 (accessed on July 13, 2008). 

Dioxin was the poisoning agent in a high profile political incident in 2004. It was ultimately identified as the cause of the disfiguring acne-like skin condition suffered by Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko a few months before the first presidential election. The suspicion is that the dioxin was placed into soup ingested by Mr. Yushenko. The... 

Fig. 4.10 Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned by dioxin in 2004. In his blood, dioxin levels were 6000 times the normal values and the long-lasting effects of chloracne are still visible on his face in this picture from 2006. (Copyright-free Wikipedia picture)...

Modem history shows us that terrorists have used other chemicals, such as ricin (Bulgarian G. Markov was poisoned in 1978) or dioxin (the President of Ukraine Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko was poisoned in 2004). 

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