Ukraine’s Yushchenko to Have Plastic Surgery in Israel for Dioxin Poisoning

Ukraine’s presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko is to have plastic surgery in Israel following the Dec. 26 repeat elections, after doctors confirmed that the pockmarks and cysts that disfigured his face were the result of dioxin poisoning.

Yushchenko is scheduled to travel to one of the leading plastic surgeons in the world in late December, and has already been granted a visa, the Interfax news agency reported, citing Israel’s Maariv daily.

Yushchenko, who doctors say was poisoned with a dangerous form of dioxin in early September, must also be treated for liver problems and other ailments as a result of the poisoning.

One of Yushchenko’s aides has already visited the private clinic in Israel ahead of the opposition leader’s trip to prepare for treatment there.