yushchenko, Viktor

good guy<div>
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</div><div>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko</div><div>
</div><div>iktor Andriyovych Yushchenko (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_language" title="Ukrainian language" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ukrainian</a>: Віктор Андрійович Ющенко, IPA: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Ukrainian" title="Help:IPA/Ukrainian" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;">[ˈβiktor ɐnˈdrʲijoβetʃ ˈjuʃtʃenko]</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Juschtschenko.ogg" title="About this sound" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><img alt="About this sound" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Loudspeaker.svg/11px-Loudspeaker.svg.png" decoding="async" width="11" height="11" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Loudspeaker.svg/17px-Loudspeaker.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Loudspeaker.svg/22px-Loudspeaker.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="20" data-file-height="20" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px;" /></a><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Uk-%D0%AE%D1%89%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%BE.oga" class="internal" title="Uk-Ющенко.oga" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">listen</a>); born February 23, 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Ukraine" title="President of Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">President of Ukraine</a> from January 23, 2005, to February 25, 2010.As an informal leader of the Ukrainian opposition coalition, he was one of the two main candidates in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Ukrainian_presidential_election" title="2004 Ukrainian presidential election" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2004 Ukrainian presidential election</a>. Yushchenko won the presidency through a repeat <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runoff_election" class="mw-redirect" title="Runoff election" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">runoff election</a> between him and Prime Minister <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yanukovych" title="Viktor Yanukovych" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Viktor Yanukovych</a>. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_Ukraine" title="Supreme Court of Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ukrainian Supreme Court</a> called for the runoff election to be repeated because of widespread <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_fraud" title="Electoral fraud" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">electoral fraud</a> in favor of Viktor Yanukovych in the original vote. Yushchenko won in the revote (52% to 44%). Public protests prompted by the electoral fraud played a major role in that presidential election and led to Ukraine's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Revolution" title="Orange Revolution" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Orange Revolution</a>.Following an assassination attempt in late 2004 during his election campaign, Yushchenko was confirmed to have ingested hazardous amounts of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin" title="2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">TCDD</a>, the most potent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioxin" title="Dioxin" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">dioxin</a> and a contaminant in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange" title="Agent Orange" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Agent Orange</a>. He suffered disfigurement as a result of the poisoning, but has since made a full physical recovery.Before his election as president, Yushchenko already had a career in Ukrainian politics. In 1993, he became governor (head) of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bank_of_Ukraine" title="National Bank of Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">National Bank of Ukraine</a>. From 1999 to 2001 he was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_minister" title="Prime minister" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">prime minister</a>. After his dismissal as prime minister, Yushchenko went into opposition to President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid_Kuchma" title="Leonid Kuchma" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Leonid Kuchma</a> and he founded the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Ukraine_bloc" class="mw-redirect" title="Our Ukraine bloc" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Our Ukraine bloc</a>, which at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_parliamentary_election,2002" class="mw-redirect" title="Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2002" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2002 parliamentary election</a> became Ukraine's most popular political force, with 23.57% of the votes.After Yushchenko's election in 2004 to the presidency, this alliance was unable to continue this success, garnering only 13.95% of the votes in 2006 and 14.15% of the votes in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_parliamentary_election,2007" class="mw-redirect" title="Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2007" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2007 parliamentary election</a>. Yushchenko failed to secure a run-off spot during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Ukrainian_presidential_election" title="2010 Ukrainian presidential election" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2010 Ukrainian presidential election</a>; gaining 5.5% of the vote. During the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_parliamentary_election,2012" class="mw-redirect" title="Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2012" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2012 Ukrainian parliamentary elections</a>, Yushchenko headed the election list of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Ukraine(political_party)" title="Our Ukraine (political party)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Our Ukraine</a>. The party won 1.11% of the national votes and no <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constituencies" class="mw-redirect" title="Constituencies" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">constituencies</a>, and thus failed to win parliamentary representation.<div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Early_life" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1Early life</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Central_banker" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2Central banker</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Prime_minister" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3Prime minister</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#%22Our_Ukraine%22_leader" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4"Our Ukraine" leader</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Presidential_election_of_2004" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5Presidential election of 2004</a><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#TCDD_poisoning" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5.1TCDD poisoning</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Unprecedented_three_rounds_of_voting" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5.2Unprecedented three rounds of voting</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Presidency" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6Presidency</a><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Inauguration" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.1Inauguration</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Presidency_2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.2Presidency</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Dismissal_of_other_Orange_Revolution_members" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.3Dismissal of other Orange Revolution members</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#First_dissolution_of_Parliament" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.4First dissolution of Parliament</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Second_dissolution_of_Parliament(2007)and_conflict_with_Tymoshenko(2008%E2%80%932009)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6.5Second dissolution of Parliament (2007) and conflict with Tymoshenko (2008–2009)</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#2010_presidential_election_and_later_career" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">72010 presidential election and later career</a><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#2010_presidential_election" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7.12010 presidential election</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-16" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Later_career_including_2012_parliamentary_elections" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7.2Later career including 2012 parliamentary elections</a><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-17" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Euromaidan_and_2014_election" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7.2.1Euromaidan and 2014 election</a></li></ul></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-18" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Political_positions" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">8Political positions</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-19" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Family_and_private_life" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">9Family and private life</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-20" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Cultural_and_political_image" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">10Cultural and political image</a><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-21" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Public_opinion_polls" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">10.1Public opinion polls</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-22" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#Honours_and_awards" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">11Honours and awards</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-23" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#See_also" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">12See also</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-24" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">13References</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-25" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#External_links" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">14External links</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-family: " linux="Linux" libertine="Libertine" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" serif="serif" line-height="line-height">Early life[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Viktor_Yushchenko&action=edit&section=1&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Early life" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko was born on February 23, 1954, in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoruzhivka" title="Khoruzhivka" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Khoruzhivka</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumy_Oblast" title="Sumy Oblast" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sumy Oblast</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_SSR" class="mw-redirect" title="Ukrainian SSR" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ukrainian SSR</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Soviet Union</a>, into a family of teachers. His father, Andriy Andriyovych Yushchenko (1919–1992), fought in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Front(World_War_II)" title="Eastern Front (World War II)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Second World War</a>, was captured by German forces and imprisoned as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POW" class="mw-redirect" title="POW" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">POW</a> in a series of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_concentration_camps" title="Nazi concentration camps" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">concentration camps</a> in the German Reich, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz-Birkenau" class="mw-redirect" title="Auschwitz-Birkenau" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Auschwitz-Birkenau</a>. He survived the ordeal, and after returning home, taught English at a local school. Viktor's mother, Varvara Tymofiyovna Yushchenko (1918–2005), taught physics and mathematics at the same school. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumy_Oblast" title="Sumy Oblast" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sumy Oblast</a> region where he was born is predominantly Ukrainian-speaking, and this differentiated him in later life from his political counterparts, for whom Russian was the mother tongue.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-BBCProfileYushchenko-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a>Viktor Yushchenko graduated from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ternopil_National_Economic_University" title="Ternopil National Economic University" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ternopil Finance and Economics Institute</a> in 1975 and began work as an accountant, as a deputy to the chief accountant in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolkhoz" title="Kolkhoz" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">kolkhoz</a>. Then, from 1975 to 1976, he served as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscript" class="mw-redirect" title="Conscript" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">conscript</a> in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcaucasian_Military_District" title="Transcaucasian Military District" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Transcaucasian Military District</a> on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Soviet</a>–<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey" title="Turkey" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Turkish</a> border.<h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-family: " linux="Linux" libertine="Libertine" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" serif="serif" line-height="line-height">Central banker[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Viktor_Yushchenko&action=edit&section=2&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Central banker" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><table class="box-BLP_unsourced_section plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-BLP_unsourced" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 135.797px; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 10px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(162, 169, 177) rgb(162, 169, 177) rgb(162, 169, 177) rgb(242, 133, 0); border-image: initial; background-color: rgb(251, 251, 251); box-sizing: border-box;"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image" style="border: none; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0.5em; text-align: center;"><div style="width: 52px;"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b4/Ambox_important.svg/40px-Ambox_important.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="40" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b4/Ambox_important.svg/60px-Ambox_important.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b4/Ambox_important.svg/80px-Ambox_important.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="40" data-file-height="40" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" /></div></td><td class="mbox-text" style="border: none; padding: 0.25em 0.5em; width: 848px;"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons" title="Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">biography of a living person</a> does not <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">include</a> any <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">references or sources</a>. Please help by adding <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_sources" title="Wikipedia:Reliable sources" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">reliable sources</a>. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately.
Find sources: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?as_eq=wikipedia&q=%22Viktor+Yushchenko%22" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none !important; padding: 0px !important;">"Viktor Yushchenko"</a> – <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbm=nws&q=%22Viktor+Yushchenko%22+-wikipedia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none !important; padding: 0px !important;">news</a> · <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?&q=%22Viktor+Yushchenko%22+site:news.google.com/newspapers&source=newspapers" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none !important; padding: 0px !important;">newspapers</a> · <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbs=bks:1&q=%22Viktor+Yushchenko%22+-wikipedia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none !important; padding: 0px !important;">books</a> · <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22Viktor+Yushchenko%22" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none !important; padding: 0px !important;">scholar</a> · <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=%22Viktor+Yushchenko%22&acc=on&wc=on" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none !important; padding: 0px !important;">JSTOR</a> (January 2014) (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Learn how and when to remove this template message</a>)</div></td></tr></tbody></table>In 1976 Yushchenko began a career in banking.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-:0-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a> In 1983, he became the Deputy Director for Agricultural Credit at the Ukrainian Republican Office of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Soviet Union</a> State Bank.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-:0-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a> From 1990 to 1993, he worked as vice-chairman and first vice-chairman of the JSC Agroindustrial Bank Ukraina. In 1993, he was appointed Governor of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bank_of_Ukraine" title="National Bank of Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">National Bank of Ukraine</a> (Ukraine's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_bank" title="Central bank" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">central bank</a>).<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-:0-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a> In 1997, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verkhovna_Rada" title="Verkhovna Rada" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Verkhovna Rada</a>, the parliament of Ukraine, re-appointed him.As a central banker, Yushchenko played an important part in the creation of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine" title="Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ukraine</a>'s national <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency" title="Currency" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">currency</a>, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hryvnia" class="mw-redirect" title="Hryvnia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">hryvnia</a>, and the establishment of a modern regulatory system for commercial banking. He also successfully overcame a debilitating wave of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-inflation" class="mw-redirect" title="Hyper-inflation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">hyper-inflation</a> that hit the country—he brought inflation down from more than 10,000 percent to less than 10 percent—and managed to defend the value of the currency following the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Russian_financial_crisis" title="1998 Russian financial crisis" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1998 Russian financial crisis</a>.In 1998, he wrote a thesis entitled "The Development of Supply and Demand of Money in Ukraine" and defended it in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Academy_of_Banking_of_the_National_Bank_of_Ukraine" title="Ukrainian Academy of Banking of the National Bank of Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ukrainian Academy of Banking</a>. He thereby earned a doctorate in economics.<h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-family: " linux="Linux" libertine="Libertine" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" serif="serif" line-height="line-height">Prime minister[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Viktor_Yushchenko&action=edit&section=3&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Prime minister" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>In December 1999, Ukrainian President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid_Kuchma" title="Leonid Kuchma" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Leonid Kuchma</a> unexpectedly nominated Yushchenko to be the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Ukraine" title="Prime Minister of Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">prime minister</a> after the parliament failed by one vote to ratify the previous candidate, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeriy_Pustovoitenko" title="Valeriy Pustovoitenko" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Valeriy Pustovoytenko</a>.Ukraine's economy improved during Yushchenko's cabinet service. However, his government, particularly Deputy Prime Minister <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yulia_Tymoshenko" title="Yulia Tymoshenko" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Yulia Tymoshenko</a>, soon became embroiled in a confrontation with influential leaders of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_mining" title="Coal mining" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">coal mining</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas" title="Natural gas" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">natural gas</a> industries. The conflict resulted in a 2001 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-confidence_vote" class="mw-redirect" title="No-confidence vote" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">no-confidence vote</a> by the parliament, orchestrated by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Ukraine" title="Communist Party of Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Communists</a>, who opposed Yushchenko's economic policies, and by centrist groups associated with the country's powerful "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_oligarch" title="Business oligarch" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">oligarchs</a>." The vote passed 263 to 69 and resulted in Yushchenko's removal from office.<h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-family: " linux="Linux" libertine="Libertine" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" serif="serif" line-height="line-height">"Our Ukraine" leader[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Viktor_Yushchenko&action=edit&section=4&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: " our="Our" ukraine="Ukraine" leader="leader" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><div class="thumb tleft" style="float: left; clear: left; margin: 0.5em 1.4em 1.3em 0px; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 222px;">
<div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Moroz_Yushchenko.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url("");" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Moroz_Yushchenko.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url("");" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Yushchenko with fellow opposition leader </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleksandr_Moroz" title="Oleksandr Moroz" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Oleksandr Moroz</a> during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Revolution" title="Orange Revolution" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Orange Revolution</a></div></div></div>
In 2001, both Yushchenko and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yulia_Tymoshenko" title="Yulia Tymoshenko" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Yulia Tymoshenko</a> broached at creating a broad opposition bloc against the incumbent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Ukraine" title="President of Ukraine" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">President</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid_Kuchma" title="Leonid Kuchma" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Leonid Kuchma</a> in order to win the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_presidential_election,2004" class="mw-redirect" title="Ukrainian presidential election, 2004" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Ukrainian presidential election 2004</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-CarnIP-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a>In 2002, Yushchenko became the leader of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Ukraine%E2%80%93People%27s_Self-Defense_Bloc" title="Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Our Ukraine</a> (Nasha Ukrayina) political <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition" title="Coalition" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">coalition</a>, which received a plurality of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constituency" class="mw-redirect" title="Constituency" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">seats</a> in the year's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Ukraine" title="Elections in Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">parliamentary election</a>. However, the number of seats won was not a majority, and efforts to form a majority coalition with other <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliamentary_opposition" title="Parliamentary opposition" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">opposition</a> parties failed. Since then, Yushchenko has remained the leader and public face of the Our Ukraine parliamentary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_factions" class="mw-redirect" title="Political factions" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">faction</a>.[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">citation needed</a>]In late 2002 Yushchenko, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleksandr_Moroz" title="Oleksandr Moroz" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Oleksandr Moroz</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Party_of_Ukraine" title="Socialist Party of Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Socialist Party of Ukraine</a>), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petro_Symonenko" title="Petro Symonenko" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Petro Symonenko</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Ukraine" title="Communist Party of Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Communist Party of Ukraine</a>) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yulia_Tymoshenko" title="Yulia Tymoshenko" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Yulia Tymoshenko</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yulia_Tymoshenko_Bloc" title="Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc</a>) issued a joint statement concerning "the beginning of a state revolution in Ukraine". Though the communists stepped out of the alliance and though Symonenko opposed having one single candidate from the alliance in the 2004 presidential election, the other three parties remained allies<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Ref_e-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a> until July 2006.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Ref_f-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a>On July 2, 2004 Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc established the Force of the people, a coalition which aimed to stop "the destructive process that has, as a result of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incumbent" title="Incumbent" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">incumbent</a> authorities, become a characteristic for Ukraine", at the time President Kuchma and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Ukraine" title="Prime Minister of Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Prime Minister</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yanukovych" title="Viktor Yanukovych" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Viktor Yanukovych</a> were the incumbent authorities in Ukraine. The pact included a promise by Viktor Yushchenko to nominate Tymoshenko as Prime Minister if Yushchenko would win the October 2004 presidential election.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-CarnIP-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a>Yushchenko was widely regarded as the moderate political leader of the anti-Kuchma opposition, since other opposition parties were less influential and had fewer seats in parliament. Since becoming President of Ukraine in 2005, he has been an honorary leader of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Union%22Our_Ukraine%22" class="mw-redirect" title="People's Union " our="Our" ukraine="Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Our Ukraine</a> party.From 2001 to 2004, his rankings in popularity polls were higher than those of President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid_Kuchma" title="Leonid Kuchma" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Leonid Kuchma</a>. In later public opinion polls, though, his support plummeted from a high of 52% following his election in 2004 to below 4%.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Ref_g-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Ref_2009-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Ref_2009a-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a>However, in the parliamentary elections of March 2006, the Our Ukraine party, led by Prime Minister <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuriy_Yekhanurov" title="Yuriy Yekhanurov" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Yuriy Yekhanurov</a>, received less than 14% of the national vote, taking third place behind the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_of_Regions" title="Party of Regions" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Party of Regions</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yulia_Tymoshenko_Bloc" title="Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc</a>. In a poll by the Sofia Social Research Centre between July 27 and August 7, 2007 more than 52% of those polled said they distrusted Yushchenko.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Forua_110055-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-family: " linux="Linux" libertine="Libertine" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" serif="serif" line-height="line-height">Presidential election of 2004[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Viktor_Yushchenko&action=edit&section=5&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Presidential election of 2004" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_presidential_election,2004" class="mw-redirect" title="Ukrainian presidential election, 2004" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ukrainian presidential election, 2004</a></div><div class="thumb tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 222px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ukraine_Presidential_Oct_2004_Vote(Yushchenko).png" class="image" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Ukraine_Presidential_Oct_2004_Vote%28Yushchenko%29.png/220px-Ukraine_Presidential_Oct_2004_Vote%28Yushchenko%29.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="156" class="thumbimage" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Ukraine_Presidential_Oct_2004_Vote%28Yushchenko%29.png/330px-Ukraine_Presidential_Oct_2004_Vote%28Yushchenko%29.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Ukraine_Presidential_Oct_2004_Vote%28Yushchenko%29.png/440px-Ukraine_Presidential_Oct_2004_Vote%28Yushchenko%29.png 2x" data-file-width="2466" data-file-height="1749" style="border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a><div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ukraine_Presidential_Oct_2004_Vote(Yushchenko).png" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url("");" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ukraine_Presidential_Oct_2004_Vote(Yushchenko).png" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url("");" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Viktor Yushchenko (First round) – percentage of total national vote</a></div></div></div>
Yushchenko built his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_campaign" title="Political campaign" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">campaign</a> on face-to-face communication with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter" class="mw-redirect" title="Voter" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">voters</a>, since the government prevented most major TV channels from providing equal coverage to candidates.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-hrw_open_letter-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[12]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-temniki-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[13]</a> Meanwhile, his rival, Yanukovych, frequently appeared in the news and even accused Yushchenko, whose father was a Red Army soldier imprisoned at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp" title="Auschwitz concentration camp" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Auschwitz</a>, of being "a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi" class="mw-redirect" title="Nazi" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Nazi</a>,"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-nazi_billboard-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-auschwitz-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a> even though Yushchenko actively reached out to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_in_Ukraine" class="mw-redirect" title="Jews in Ukraine" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Jewish community in Ukraine</a> and his mother is said to have risked her life by hiding three Jewish girls for one and a half years during the Second World War.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Ref_h-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a>In 2004, as President Kuchma's term came to an end, Yushchenko announced his candidacy for president as an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent(politician)" class="mw-redirect" title="Independent (politician)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">independent</a>. His major rival was Prime Minister <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yanukovych" title="Viktor Yanukovych" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Viktor Yanukovych</a>. Since his term as prime minister, Yushchenko had slightly modernized his political platform, adding social partnership and other <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism" title="Liberalism" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">liberal</a> slogans to older ideas of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_integration" title="European integration" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">European integration</a>, including Ukraine's joining <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO" title="NATO" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">NATO</a> and fighting <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_corruption" title="Political corruption" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">corruption</a>. Supporters of Yushchenko were organized in the "Syla Narodu" ("Power to the People") electoral coalition, which he and his political allies led, with the Our Ukraine coalition as the main constituent force.<h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">TCDD poisoning[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Viktor_Yushchenko&action=edit&section=6&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: TCDD poisoning" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">citation needed</a>]<div class="thumb tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 222px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Viktor_Yuschenko.jpg" class="image" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Viktor_Yuschenko.jpg/220px-Viktor_Yuschenko.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="147" class="thumbimage" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Viktor_Yuschenko.jpg/330px-Viktor_Yuschenko.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Viktor_Yuschenko.jpg/440px-Viktor_Yuschenko.jpg 2x" data-file-width="800" data-file-height="533" style="border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a><div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Viktor_Yuschenko.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url("");" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Viktor_Yuschenko.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url("");" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="width" height="height" viewbox="%220" e="E" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h1.509z="h10.99v7.919H1.509z" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Yushchenko at the University of Amsterdam, with </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloracne" title="Chloracne" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">chloracne</a> from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin" title="2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">TCDD</a>poisoning (2006).</div></div></div>The campaign was often bitter and violent. Yushchenko became seriously ill in early September 2004. He was flown to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna" title="Vienna" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Vienna</a>'s Rudolfinerhaus clinic for treatment and diagnosed with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acute_pancreatitis" title="Acute pancreatitis" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">acute pancreatitis</a>, accompanied by interstitial edematous changes, due to a serious viral infection and chemical substances that are not normally found in food products. Yushchenko claimed that he had been poisoned by government agents. After the illness, his face was greatly disfigured: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaundice" title="Jaundice" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">jaundiced</a>, bloated, and pockmarked.British <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxicologist" class="mw-redirect" title="Toxicologist" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">toxicologist</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry(toxicologist)" title="John Henry (toxicologist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Professor John Henry</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary%27s_Hospital(London)" class="mw-redirect" title="St Mary's Hospital (London)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">St Mary's Hospital</a> in London declared the changes in Yushchenko's face were due to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloracne" title="Chloracne" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">chloracne</a>, which results from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioxins_and_dioxin-like_compounds" title="Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">dioxin</a>poisoning.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-BBC:Yushchenko_and_the_poison_theory-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a> Dutch toxicologist Bram Brouwer also stated his changes in appearance were the result of chloracne, and found dioxin levels in Yushchenko's blood 6,000 times above normal.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-CBS:Yushchenko:Live_And_Carry_On-18" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[18]</a>On December 11, Dr. Michael Zimpfer of the Rudolfinerhaus clinic declared that Yushchenko had ingested <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin" title="2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">TCDD dioxin</a> and had 1,000 times the usual concentration in his body.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-CNN:Doctors:Yushchenko_was_poisoned-19" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[19]</a> Not all in the medical community agreed with this diagnosis,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-BBC:Yushchenko_and_the_poison_theory-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a> including the clinic's own chief medical director, Dr. Lothar Wicke, who stated there was no evidence of poisoning other than the severe chloracne visible on Yushchenko's face, and claimed to have been forced to resign because of his disagreement.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Pancevski2005-20" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[20]</a> Wicke also claimed to have been threatened by Yushchenko's associates.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Lackner2004-21" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[21]</a> Wicke's claims led some to question Yushchenko's truthfulness and motives.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Rosenthal2004-22" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[22]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Raimondo2004-23" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[23]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Nagle2004-24" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[24]</a>Many have linked Yushchenko's poisoning to a dinner with a group of senior Ukrainian officials (including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Satsyuk" title="Volodymyr Satsyuk" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Volodymyr Satsyuk</a>) that took place on 5 September.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-BBC:Yushchenko_and_the_poison_theory-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-CBS:Yushchenko:Live_And_Carry_On-18" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[18]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-CNN:Doctors:Yushchenko_was_poisoned-19" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[19]</a>Since 2005, Yushchenko has been treated by a team of doctors led by Professor Jean Saurat at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Geneva" title="University of Geneva" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">University of Geneva</a> Hospital.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Ref_2005-25" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[25]</a> Analysis of Yushchenko's body fluids and tissues provided useful information on the human toxicokinetics of TCDD and its metabolites.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Sorg2009-26" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[26]</a>In June 2008, David Zhvania, a former political ally of Yushchenko, a discredited agent of Moscow and an ex-minister in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Tymoshenko_Government" class="mw-redirect" title="First Tymoshenko Government" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">first Tymoshenko Government</a>, claimed in an interview with the BBC<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Ref_2008-27" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[27]</a> that Yushchenko had not been poisoned in 2004 and that laboratory results in the case had been falsified.Yushchenko himself implicated David Zhvania, the godfather of one of his children, of involvement in his dioxin poisoning.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Bill2009-28" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[28]</a>In August 2009, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lancet" title="The Lancet" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">The Lancet</a> published a scientific paper by Swiss and Ukrainian researchers on the monitoring, form, distribution, and elimination of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin" title="2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin</a> (TCDD) in Yushchenko in relation to his severe poisoning. The 2004 TCDD levels in Yushchenko's blood serum were 50,000-fold greater than those in the general population.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Sorg2009-26" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[26]</a> This new study also concluded that the dioxin "was so pure that it was definitely made in a laboratory".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Ref_j-29" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[29]</a>On September 27, 2009 Yushchenko said in an interview aired on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_1%2B1" class="mw-redirect" title="Channel 1+1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Channel 1+1</a> that the testimony of three men who were at a dinner in 2004 at which he believes he was poisoned is crucial to finishing the investigation, and he claimed these men were in Russia. Ukrainian prosecutors said Russia has refused to extradite one of the men, the former deputy chief of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Service_of_Ukraine" title="Security Service of Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ukraine's security service</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Satsyuk" title="Volodymyr Satsyuk" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Volodymyr Satsyuk</a>, because he holds both <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_citizenship" class="mw-redirect" title="Russian citizenship" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Russian</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_citizenship" class="mw-redirect" title="Ukrainian citizenship" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ukrainian citizenship</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-Ref_2009c-30" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[30]</a> After arriving in Russia Satsyuk was granted Russian citizenship protecting him from extradition.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-31" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[31]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Unprecedented three rounds of voting</h3><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main articles: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Revolution" title="Orange Revolution" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Orange Revolution</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-election_developments_in_Ukraine,2004" class="mw-redirect" title="Post-election developments in Ukraine, 2004" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Post-election developments in Ukraine, 2004</a></div>The initial vote, held on October 31, 2004, saw Yushchenko obtain 39.87% of vote, ahead of his opponent Yanukovych with 39.32%. Because neither candidate reached the 50% <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majority" title="Majority" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">majority</a> required for outright victory, a second round of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-round_system" title="Two-round system" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">run-off voting</a> was held on November 21, 2004. Although a 75% <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout" title="Voter turnout" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">voter turnout</a> was recorded, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observation" title="Observation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">observers</a> reported many irregularities and abuses across the country, such as organized multiple voting and extra votes for Yanukovych after the polls closed. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit_poll" title="Exit poll" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Exit poll</a> results put Yushchenko ahead in the western and central provinces of the country, and one poll gave him an 11% margin of victory. However, the final official result was a 3% margin of victory for Yanukovych.The allegations of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_fraud" title="Electoral fraud" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">electoral fraud</a> and the discrepancy between exit polls and the final tally prompted Yushchenko and his supporters to refuse to recognize the results.After thirteen days of massive popular protests in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiev" title="Kiev" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kiev</a> and other Ukrainian cities that became known as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Revolution" title="Orange Revolution" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Orange Revolution</a>, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_Ukraine" title="Supreme Court of Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Supreme Court</a> overturned the election results and ordered a re-vote of the run-off election for December 26. Yushchenko proclaimed a victory for the opposition and declared his confidence that he would be elected with at least 60% of the vote. He did win the re-vote of second round, but with 52% of the vote.<h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-family: " linux="Linux" libertine="Libertine" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" serif="serif" line-height="line-height">Presidency[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Viktor_Yushchenko&action=edit&section=8&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Presidency" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Inauguration[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Viktor_Yushchenko&action=edit&section=9&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Inauguration" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>At 12 pm (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_European_Summer_Time" title="Eastern European Summer Time" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kiev time</a>) on 23 January 2005 the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inauguration" title="Inauguration" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">inauguration</a> of Viktor Yushchenko as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Ukraine" title="President of Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">President of Ukraine</a> took place.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#cite_note-32" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[32]</a> The event was attended by various foreign dignitaries, including:...</div><div>=</div>