Wife of Ukrainian Candidate Speaks Out

ByABC News via logo
December 10, 2004, 8:15 AM

Dec. 10, 2004 — -- Kateryna Yushchenko is the American woman in the middle of the world's biggest political crisis and growing mystery.

Her husband is the Ukrainian presidential candidate from the opposition party suspected to have been poisoned by his enemies -- his has been a startling transformation from a healthy, handsome 50-year-old to an ailing man with a pockmarked face.

Viktor Yushchenko has managed to force a runoff election in his country. This comes after hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets to support him last month, when he insisted the country's elections were rigged.

Among those vocal supporters is Kateryna, who grew up in Chicago, and talked to "Good Morning America" from Kiev about her husband's apparent poisoning, the constant threats against her family, growing up as the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants in the United States and what it's like seeing Ukraine on the brink of sweeping reforms.

As a child, Kateryna was groomed to one day return to her parents' native country. They sent her to school to learn about her heritage, she took lessons in the national dance and spoke her parents' native language at home.

"Our parents always tried to tell us all about Ukraine and the importance of our family, and they just wanted us to love the Ukraine," said Lydia Moll, Kateryna's sister.

Kateryna was also groomed for success. "When she was in high school, she was voted most likely to succeed," said Nadia Macconnell, co-founder of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation. "She went to the University of Chicago and [received an] economics degree, and she wanted to bring that talent and that experience to help the people of Ukraine."

After working for the Reagan administration as an adviser for Eastern Europe, she finally followed her heart to her parents' homeland and devoted herself to helping Ukrainian orphans.

In 1993, Kateryna met the young and handsome Viktor. The two shared a common bond -- their commitment to Ukraine. They married and had three children. But now they are caught in a struggle that has put that commitment to the test, yet hasn't destroyed their spirit.