First photo is from June 2004. Second is from November 20.
[IMG]http://www.`left-turn`.net/yuchenko.jpg[/IMG]
What on earth has happened to Ukraine opposition leader Yushchenko?
CTV.ca
http://snipurl.com/awzi
Electric News
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/top/story/0,4...6,78131,00.html
Full Version: Ukraine Election: Victor Yushchenko
A change of face, a leader reborn
By MARK MacKINNON
Friday, November 26, 2004 - Page A13
KIEV -- Viktor Yushchenko's transformation over the past 12 months has made him almost unrecognizable to those who knew him before.
Start with his face. Part of the `50-year`-old's astonishing popularity with Ukrainian voters had previously been attributed to his `movie-star` looks. He had an easy smile and a square jaw, and female voters freely admitted that he made their knees wobble when he looked their way.
Then came a private dinner in September with Ihor Smeshko, the head of Ukraine's internal security services, after which Mr. Yushchenko fell gravely ill. He was rushed to hospital for what his campaign says was chemical poisoning, but which President Leonid Kuchma's government insisted was just a case of food poisoning. He emerged looking as though he had undergone a `Jekyll-to`-Hyde makeover, with reddened, blistered and puffy skin.
But it's not just his physical features that have changed. Mr. Yushchenko's entire personality seems altered by what he sincerely believes was an attempt on his life. The old face may be gone, but the man who would lead hundreds of thousands of rapt Ukrainians into the streets was born.
Full article, Globe and Mail:
http://snipurl.com/awzn
By MARK MacKINNON
Friday, November 26, 2004 - Page A13
KIEV -- Viktor Yushchenko's transformation over the past 12 months has made him almost unrecognizable to those who knew him before.
Start with his face. Part of the `50-year`-old's astonishing popularity with Ukrainian voters had previously been attributed to his `movie-star` looks. He had an easy smile and a square jaw, and female voters freely admitted that he made their knees wobble when he looked their way.
Then came a private dinner in September with Ihor Smeshko, the head of Ukraine's internal security services, after which Mr. Yushchenko fell gravely ill. He was rushed to hospital for what his campaign says was chemical poisoning, but which President Leonid Kuchma's government insisted was just a case of food poisoning. He emerged looking as though he had undergone a `Jekyll-to`-Hyde makeover, with reddened, blistered and puffy skin.
But it's not just his physical features that have changed. Mr. Yushchenko's entire personality seems altered by what he sincerely believes was an attempt on his life. The old face may be gone, but the man who would lead hundreds of thousands of rapt Ukrainians into the streets was born.
Full article, Globe and Mail:
http://snipurl.com/awzn
Gosh! Whatever happened to him isn't good. That's quite a transformation in just a few months. I don't want to speculate too much, but I will say it looks like the result of some serious toxicity of some kind.
I've heard reports that he may have been poisoned. And I heard it on the BBC, so it may actually be true.
[quote=rox63]I've heard reports that he may have been poisoned. And I heard it on the BBC, so it may actually be true.[/quote]
I've read that Yushchenko believes he has been poisoned as well.
I've read that Yushchenko believes he has been poisoned as well.
Food poisoning didn't do that. I'm sure they did a toxin screen on his blood. What could make someones face change like that? Did it affect his whole body as well? I'm going to do some research on this. I post if I find anything.
[quote=beinlicht]Food poisoning didn't do that. I'm sure they did a toxin screen on his blood. What could make someones face change like that? Did it affect his whole body as well? I'm going to do some research on this. I post if I find anything.[/quote]
The two theories I've read that seem most plausible are dioxin poisoning and chloracne. Neither of these explain the aging or the "leaching" of his hair and unaffected skin, though.
The article I quoted in the second post states toxic substances were found in his blood.
The two theories I've read that seem most plausible are dioxin poisoning and chloracne. Neither of these explain the aging or the "leaching" of his hair and unaffected skin, though.
The article I quoted in the second post states toxic substances were found in his blood.
Perhaps the same toxin was put into his food as what was put into Yasser Arrafats?? Its becoming quite clear that when certain entities want you gone...they will try anything. this is a little disturbing indeed. :shock:
and that reminds me........someone needs to become a taste tester for John Edwards....before he eats any food prepared by outsiders.....any volunteers? :shock:
I've never seen food poisoning do that to anyone! It seems likely that the internal security services did something nasty to him. I just admire Yushchenko all the more for surviving it.
This guy has been through `enough-no` need to compare him with Yasser Arafat! :wink: They are total opposites.
This guy has been through `enough-no` need to compare him with Yasser Arafat! :wink: They are total opposites.
You know something ? by looking at those pictures again side by side...it almost looks like he took some age acceleration drug or something :shock: isnt there a disease that causes that affliction? yikes i hope theres a cure for that one! :shock:
[quote]Who poisoned Yushchenko?
December 8, 2004
Doctors at the Austrian clinic that treated Ukraine’s opposition leader confirm there was a plot to kill him
MEDICAL experts have confirmed that Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine’s 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 Vienna’s exclusive Rudolfinerhaus clinic are within days of identifying the substance that left Mr Yushchenko’s 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 Yanukovych’s 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 Yushchenko’s 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 Yushchenko’s 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.[/quote]
Full article:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-...1393172,00.html
December 8, 2004
Doctors at the Austrian clinic that treated Ukraine’s opposition leader confirm there was a plot to kill him
MEDICAL experts have confirmed that Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine’s 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 Vienna’s exclusive Rudolfinerhaus clinic are within days of identifying the substance that left Mr Yushchenko’s 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 Yanukovych’s 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 Yushchenko’s 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 Yushchenko’s 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.[/quote]
Full article:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-...1393172,00.html
[quote=andrew6565]and that reminds me........someone needs to become a taste tester for John Edwards....before he eats any food prepared by outsiders.....any volunteers? :shock:[/quote]
Andrew you smart ass.
I love JRE but............RLMFAO
Andrew you smart ass.
I love JRE but............RLMFAO
[quote=Tago45]I've never seen food poisoning do that to anyone!
This guy has been through `enough-no` need to compare him with Yasser Arafat! :wink: They are total opposites.[/quote]
We are not talking salmonella here, so unless you are experienced with KGB poisons, we have no point of comparison.
And, as Harley Sorenson reminded me yesterday, there is a comparison with Arafat if we take people at their word (quoting CNN here):
On the day Sharon's Cabinet voted to "remove" Arafat, a spokesman for Sharon was asked by CNN "if the Cabinet would forcibly remove Arafat from Ramallah."
"It doesn't mean that," the spokesman, Ra'anan Gissan, said. "The Cabinet has today resolved to remove this obstacle."
He added: "The time, method -- the ways by which this will take place -- will be decided separately, and the security services will continue to monitor the situation and make the recommendation about the proper action as they have done in the past."
The issue, Gissin told CNN, is "how best to remove this obstacle without causing further damage" to peace with the Palestinians.
Gissan told CNN that Israel hoped to avoid turning Arafat into a martyr. "We're just turning him into a much more worried terrorist," he said.
This guy has been through `enough-no` need to compare him with Yasser Arafat! :wink: They are total opposites.[/quote]
We are not talking salmonella here, so unless you are experienced with KGB poisons, we have no point of comparison.
And, as Harley Sorenson reminded me yesterday, there is a comparison with Arafat if we take people at their word (quoting CNN here):
On the day Sharon's Cabinet voted to "remove" Arafat, a spokesman for Sharon was asked by CNN "if the Cabinet would forcibly remove Arafat from Ramallah."
"It doesn't mean that," the spokesman, Ra'anan Gissan, said. "The Cabinet has today resolved to remove this obstacle."
He added: "The time, method -- the ways by which this will take place -- will be decided separately, and the security services will continue to monitor the situation and make the recommendation about the proper action as they have done in the past."
The issue, Gissin told CNN, is "how best to remove this obstacle without causing further damage" to peace with the Palestinians.
Gissan told CNN that Israel hoped to avoid turning Arafat into a martyr. "We're just turning him into a much more worried terrorist," he said.
You know all this is really scary to think that other governments would possibly poison their opposition. There WAS a lot of talk prior to Arafat passing that he had also been poisoned. Nothing would surprise me. And wee think we have troubles with voting - guess that would be an option that someone would think of taking if they couldn't rig an election somehow.
There is so much evil in the world today, I have to echo Rodney King when he asked just why can't we all get along?
There is so much evil in the world today, I have to echo Rodney King when he asked just why can't we all get along?
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