Doctors at the Rudolfinerhaus clinic in Vienna today said tests performed on Ukrainian opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko show he was poisoned. Though shocking, this is not a surprise. Poisoning is an old KGB tactic, Russia’s current government is topped by ex-KGB agents, and Ukraine’s existing oligarchy has close ties with the Kremlin. According to the BBC,

The doctors said extensive tests showed a form of dioxin had been used, leaving Mr Yushchenko's face disfigured.

They described the poisoning as serious and said that if left untreated it could have killed him.

Mr Yushchenko, 50, was taken ill in September as he campaigned for disputed elections that have now been declared invalid because of irregularities. …

Mr Yushchenko's blood and tissue registered concentrations of dioxin 1,000 times above normal levels. …

But toxicologists say little is known about the effect of such a large single dose.

"It's usually low-level, long-term poisoning," Professor John Henry of London's St Mary's hospital told the BBC.

"A very large dose, nobody has any real idea of what it would cause. Now we do know."

Who else would have tried to poison Yushchenko except Ukraine’s existing oligarchy, led by current Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and former President Leonid Kuchma, both backed by ex-KGB goon, Russian President Vladimir Putin?

Ukraine’s corrupt oligarchs did everything they could to ensure that Yushchenko lost the election, but it backfired. After Yanukovych’s “win,” opposition protests nearly shut down Kiev, parliament dismissed Yanukovych’s government, and the Supreme Court ruled that Yanukovych’s victory was “fraudulent.” Anatoly Yarema, the Supreme Court’s chief justice said, “The court decision is final and cannot be appealed against.”

I hope people are truly conscious of what is happening in the Ukraine. This is one of world’s ground-zeros in the battle between dictatorship and democracy. Let us hope that the new round of elections scheduled for December 26 will turn out to be just a tad more democratic. If not, we’ll end up Back in the USSR.