He Was Born Skvortsov, on the Rolls He's Shpak

CHERNOVTSY, Ukraine -- Thousands of Ukrainians with Russian last names may not recognize their names on voters' rolls when they try to vote in parliamentary elections Sunday.

Central Elections Commission officials are urging regional officials to recheck the rolls, and lawmakers have taken steps to allow voters to challenge the spelling of their names in court. But opposition politicians are warning that many voters in the country's east and south could end up disenfranchised.

Taras Chernovil, the deputy campaign chief of the pro-Moscow Party of the Regions and a leading candidate, accused local election officials of intentionally making mistakes while translating voters' Russian names into Ukrainian.

Chernovil, a current lawmaker and No. 4 candidate on the Party of the Regions list, said mistakes had included changing Medvedev to Vedmidev and Skvortsov to Shpak. Skvorets and shpak mean "starling" in their respective languages.

The translations will make it impossible for people to vote because the names in their passports will not correspond with the ones on voters' rolls, he said in a recent interview while campaigning in Chernovtsy, in western Ukraine.

He said local election officials were following orders from the Central Elections Commission in Kiev.

Commission officials could not be reached for comment. But Tatyana Makridi, a spokeswoman for the ruling bloc, Our Ukraine, said regional and local administrations in the eastern and southern regions were responsible for the voters' rolls and any mistakes on them. "These are authorities who were elected under the previous regime before the 2004 [presidential] election," Makridi said.

She refused to comment on why it was necessary to translate Russian voters' names into Ukrainian, saying it was a question for the Central Elections Commission.

Critics say the effort to translate the rolls into Ukrainian is part of a so-called Ukrainization campaign aimed at strengthening national identity. The drive took off in earnest after President Viktor Yushchenko's Western-leaning team came to power in 2004 during the Orange Revolution. It has encountered fierce resistance in the eastern and southern regions, where most people speak Russian.

As part of the drive, parliament last year passed legislation that ordered television stations to run Russian-language shows and movies in Ukrainian. Russian-language schools have been closed, prompting a wave of protests last summer and fall in the Crimean Peninsula. Party of the Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych addressed a pro-Russian language rally of about 10,000 supporters in the Crimean city of Simferopol on Sunday.

Vasily Stoyakin, director of the Center for Political Marketing in Kiev, said translations of voters' rolls and the obligatory translation of Russian programs on television shows that the Ukrainization campaign has gotten out of hand. "This is a foolish campaign that can be characterized as one of Yushchenko's failures," Stoyakin said.

But Igor Popov, head of the Ukrainian Voters' Committee, a nongovernmental group, suggested that the translation mistakes on the rolls had nothing to do with the campaign. "This is an issue of the elections being poorly organized. These are not translations by people. The names were translated by a computer program," Popov said, adding that blocks of names had also fallen out of the rolls due to a failure by the computer program.

He estimated that 5 percent to 10 percent of all rolls were either incomplete or contained mistakes. "I personally had to go verify and correct my wife's name three times," he said.

Election officials have acknowledged problems with the rolls but insisted that they were working to correct them.

Yaroslav Davydovich, head of the Central Elections Commission, urged local officials earlier this month to check the rolls without waiting for voters to complain. "It is their responsibility," Davydovich said, Ukrainian news agencies reported.

Yushchenko has called on voters to check their names on voters' rolls in advance.

Also this month, the parliament approved amendments to the federal election law that will give voters the right to appeal mistakes made in their names in court up to three hours before polling stations close on election day.

Chernovil was skeptical that the legislation would help people vote on Sunday. "In this situation, courts won't be able to handle all the complaints," he said.

He also complained about entire apartment blocks and streets being excluded from voters' lists.

His Party of the Regions is expected to lead Sunday's elections with at least 27 percent of the vote, according to the latest poll released by Razumkov Center, a polling agency. Yushchenko's Our Ukraine is expected to place second, with 17 percent, while a bloc led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is expected to receive 13 percent.

However, it appears that the Party of the Regions will need need a coalition ally to form a majority in the new parliament, which under a 2004 constitutional reform will receive unprecedented powers, including the right to name the prime minister and most of the Cabinet.

Who Poisoned Yushchenko?
Zornitsa Stoyanova-Yerburgh
Worldpress.org contributing editor
December 13, 2004

Ukraine's opposition presidential candidiate Viktor Yushchenko before and after his poisoning.
Austrian doctors have confirmed that Ukraine's opposition presidential candidate Victor Yushchenko has been poisoned with dioxin. The highly toxic substance was ingested orally and was probably given to him by a "third party."
After three months of uncertainty, the tests gave an explanation for the mysterious illness that has plagued Yushchenko since September. The poisoning has left the opposition leader with a badly disfigured face, but no lasting internal damage. He might, however, run an increased risk of cancer.
Yushchenko has insisted he was a victim of a murder plot for a long time. However, up until Saturday the medical team at the Vienna Rudolfinerhaus clinic where he was treated had not confirmed his allegations. The announcement of the test results confirming dioxin poisoning on Saturday sent shockwaves across Europe. Most newspapers ran stories accompanied by photographs of Yushchenko before and after he fell ill to show the disfiguring transformation of his face during the last months. In the scandal, which many compared to the plot of a Cold War spy novel, the question that remains is "Who poisoned Yushchenko?"

According to the Ukrainian newspaper Facts, the story started on September 5th, when Viktor Yushchenko had dinner with the security service director Igor Smeshko and his deputy Vladimir Satsyuk. Yushchenko asked them to "stop interfering in the political struggle." The opposition leader became sick several hours later, when the dinner was over.
Viktor Yushchenko's wife, Ekaterina Yushchenko, narrated the continuation of the story to Ukraine's newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli: "Viktor came home very late. I kissed him as usual and tasted something medical on my lips. I asked my husband, if he had taken medication. Viktor answered that he had not; he said he was tired."
In an interview for London's The Times on December 8th, Yushchenko's doctor Nikolai Korpan claimed for the first time that there was evidence that the illness was a result of a deliberate attempt at the presidential candidate's life.
Previously experts from Britain, the US and France had agreed that the mysterious illness was caused by one of three possible factors: a biological agent, a chemical agent, or a rare poison that had caused his mysterious illness. "This is no longer a question for discussion, " Dr Korpan said. "We are now sure that we can confirm which substances 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."
However, hours after The Times story was published, Dr. Korpan denied making the remarks. "The suspicion of poisoning has until now neither been confirmed or excluded," Korpan was quoted as saying by the Austria Press Agency.
The Times stressed that proof that Mr. Yushchenko was deliberately poisoned would be a devastating blow to his opponent, Prime Minister Victor Yanukovich before the presidential run-off on December 28.
"It would raise questions about whether the poisoning was ordered by Mr. Yanukovich, 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."
The Times pointed out that the supporters of Yanukovich have dismissed the poisoning theory, attributing his illness to food poisoning, drinking, or a severe form of herpes. In an earlier interview outgoing president Kuchma's son-in-law had presented a different hypothesis: "I believe he is sure it was poisoning. He's not a liar. But some people from his camp created this provocation against him, his image, the government and the country."
In an interview with France's Le Monde on Thursday, professor Michael Zimpfer, President of the Rudolfinerhaus clinic, also distanced himself from the charges raised by Dr Korpan as published by The Times. He said, "at this point, there is no formal proof of poisoning."
On Saturday, however, during a press conference, Michael Zimpfer confirmed that "there is no doubt about the fact that Yuschenko's disease has been caused by a case of poisoning by dioxin."
He added that the medical team "suspect involvement of an external party, but we cannot answer as to who cooked what or who was with him while he ate." The levels of dioxin found in the body of Mr. Yushchenko were more than a thousand times higher than the normal level.
UK's The Observer (Dec 11) compared the recent developments in Ukraine to the "Cold War world of a John le Carré novel." A senior official in the Yushchenko camp told The Observer that the poisoning was "clearly planned by professionals, perhaps former employees of the KGB." The source added the poison was called T-2, or "yellow rain" — linked to dioxins and the former Soviet Union's answer to America's Agent Orange — and that the CIA had been consulted in trying to identify it.
The same source said he did not think that the Russian government was involved. But he added: "This [poisoning] was the option for people who did not want him to qualify as president."
The article showed admiration for Yushchenko who "has confronted the disease in a fighting spirit, appearing during the mass protests without cosmetics to tell them that his scarred face was that of the dirty politics of Ukraine."
The Observer also suggested that the poisoning affair was damaging not only to Yushchenko's health, but also to Ukraine's future and its international image. "It is not known if his skin, like the politics of [Ukraine]... will rid itself of the scarring."
Meanwhile, a senior Russian medical official questioned allegations that the sensational illness of Viktor Yushchenko was the result of dioxin poisoning, reported Russia's Interfax (Dec 11). "Dioxins do not belong to immediate effect poisons: poisoning develops for years and decades, and so it is impossible to get a dose of dioxin today and get poisoning tomorrow," Yury Ostapenko, head of the Toxicology Information Center of the Russian Health Ministry, told the Moscow radio station Ekho Moskvy.
"It's true that one of the first signs of dioxin poisoning is skin damage, but that is a very distinctive form of acne. Besides, the way of delivery of the poison to the planned victim is dubitable," Ostapenko said.
In Ukraine, Yushchenko's supporters showed little surprise over the official findings, according to Russia's Pravda (Dec 11). "Everybody knew he was poisoned so we didn't really need official tests," one of the street protesters in Kiev was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, supporters of Yanukovich rejected any allegations that their candidate was involved in a murder plot.
France's Le Figaro (Dec 12) also noted that the political class in Ukraine did not seem particularly moved by the news, which only seemed to confirm what many Ukrainians suspected already. Moreover, according to this article, "in a country used to political assassination attempts, the hypothesis of a murder plot, if it is proven, will be just a new addition to an already long list." However, the article added that the particular circumstances of the poisoning affair could give this story extra resonance, as images of Yushchenko's disfigured face circulate across the world.
An editorial in Bulgaria's Dnevnik (Dec 12), which saw the affair as a confirmation that "life is scarier than fiction," speculated about the choice of dioxin and the motives of Yushchenkos' enemies. According to the author, the use of dioxin was probably meant to create a publicity effect and cause Yushchenko a long agony in front of the cameras. Apart from becoming a symbol of personal strength, Yushchenko became a "living warning to any opposition leader in the post-Soviet space, who might not be as lucky as him."
Le Figaro (Dec 12) presented different views on how the news will affect the electoral campaign. It quoted Member of Parliament, Stepan Havric, previously close to Yanukovich, who warned that there is a risk of a "radicalization of the campaign," if "the radicals in Yushchenko's entourage attempt to turn this into a media event by provoking a new wave of tensions and accusations."
Others, according to the same article, think that Yushchenko's popularity will increase. However they believe that his victory had already been assured before the news broke.
"Before I estimated his vote at 52%, now I believe he will receive almost 60% of the vote," said analyst Volodymir Malinkovich. He added that the news of the poisoning "will be a severe blow to Yanukovich, despite the fact that it is very difficult to prove he was involved" in the affair. "If we suppose this was organized by the authorities, who wished to disfigure [Yushchenko], then they lost."

Did Yushchenko Poison Himself?

By CHAD NAGLE

Kiev, Ukraine.

During the Cold War, the global 'spy-versus-spy' atmosphere of rival east-west blocs generated endless assassination plots and political murder stories. One of the most infamous such killings involved a Bulgarian BBC employee, Georgi Markov, allegedly murdered by the Bulgarian Communist secret police on a London street in 1978. Legend has it Markov's murderer stuck him with an umbrella, the tip of which contained a tiny pellet of the deadly organic poison known as ricin.

A quarter century later, in the former Soviet republic of Ukraine, presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko has alleged that the government tried to poison him during the pre-election period. Poison, he and his supporters say, explains his sudden illness and disfigured appearance in the first week of September, after spending an evening with two Ukrainian intelligence service chiefs. One of Yushchenko's top lieutenants even accused the government of using ricin. This accusation was soon withdrawn, however, presumably because ricin would almost certainly have killed its victim. The accusers' poison of choice then became "dioxins," toxins so common they are found in the air we breathe.

Many outside observers believe the assassination plot story precisely because of its geographical context: the former Soviet Union. Few in America could imagine a candidate risking attempted murder of his opponent in the run-up to a U.S. election, but after all, this is a former Soviet country. The Ukrainian government--with the whole world watching--was willing to risk assassinating a high-profile political figure weeks before polling day, or so it seems. Common sense should be the first indicator that the Yushchenko campaign has concocted a tall tale. Yet, even supposing a diabolical government plot to murder Yushchenko were plausible, other factors call the poisoning version of events into question. Most important is the fact that Yushchenko has a long, documented history of serious illnesses, and his latest ailment could well be just the latest installment.

Yushchenko's medical records show that from 1994 to 2004 he had the following diseases: chronic gastritis, chronic cholecystitis, chronic colitis, chronic gastroduodenitis, infection of the bowels, and Type II diabetes. According to medical experts, this plethora of intestinal problems would have required the patient to adhere to a strict diet, but Yushchenko had a habit of falling off his dietary wagon with unfortunate effects. In September 1996, after a birthday party at which he ate and drank heavily, Yushchenko complained of pains in his right side and a burning mouth. The diagnosis: chronic cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder). Yushchenko's most recent complaints--nausea, vomiting, headaches, stomach and intestinal pains--indicated he had probably violated his prescribed meal plan yet again.

Few seem to remember that, back in September this year, the clinic that treated Yushchenko (Rudolfinerhaus Clinic in Vienna, Austria, which now publicly supports the dioxin story) labeled the poison rumors "fallacious," diagnosing Yushchenko with severe pancreatitis, severe intestinal ulcers, gastritis, proctitis, peripheral paresis and a viral skin condition. The core diagnosis, pancreatitis (decomposition of the pancreatic gland tissue), is caused by alcohol--particularly in "binge drinking"--65-75% of the time, and the items Yushchenko consumed before his September illness included crabs, watermelon, sushi--and cognac. In a country where hospitality involves endless toasts, Yushchenko's hosts may have "poisoned" him with nothing more than a liter of Ukrainian spirits. To make matters worse, Yushchenko's medical records confirmed he had voluntarily refused his doctor-ordered diet even after falling seriously ill. On September 9th he consumed salo (a variety of pork fat popular in Ukraine) with garlic, mare's milk and mineral water, and the next day he was in a Rudolfinerhaus clinic bed, and soon accusing the "regime" of poisoning him.

Although Yushchenko announced publicly in late September that he had never suffered from chronic illnesses, insisting he had been deliberately poisoned, it was publicly disclosed soon afterwards that Yushchenko had suffered from intestinal ailments for many years. This does not explain his facial appearance but, again, dioxin poisoning is less likely an explanation than alcohol. Yushchenko's disfigurement closely resembles a form of herpes infection called rosacea. As Dr. Chris Rangel, an internal medicine specialist in Texas, points out: "Rosacea can be explosive, and extremely disfiguring--and it can be triggered by even one alcoholic drink. In five years of work at major inner city hospitals in Manhattan, I saw several such cases." In other words, both rosacea (accounting for Yushchenko's outward appearance) and pancreatitis (internal symptoms) can be brought on by excessive alcohol consumption.

As human beings, we reflexively tend to sympathize with anyone who has experienced a disfiguring illness. Politicians everywhere, however, know that public disclosure of serious illness can be fatal to an election campaign, and it was only natural for Viktor Yushchenko's campaign to attempt to cover up his physical problems. In the absence of any proof, we should resist the temptation to allow our natural sympathies to lead us to a conclusion of foul play.

Chad Nagle is a lawyer accredited as an election observer in the first two rounds of the Ukrainian presidential campaign He writes from Kiev.

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