Doctors confirm Ukrainian opposition leader was poisoned

Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko in July (left) and in November (right) after he claims he was poisoned.

Doctors at an Austrian clinic that treated Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko have confirmed he was poisoned in an attempt on his life during the recent election campaign, the Times newspaper said.

"We are now sure that we can confirm which substance caused this illness," Dr Nikolai Korpan, who supervised Yushchenko's treatment at Vienna's Rudolfinerhaus clinic, was quoted as saying.

"He received this substance from other people who had a specific aim," he added. Asked if the aim had been to kill Yushchenko, Korpan said: "Yes, of course."

Yushchenko fell ill in September while campaigning for Ukraine's October 31 presidential polls.

He later accused the authorities of trying to kill him with some kind of chemical poison. His previously smooth face has become pocked with cysts and lesions.