Kateryna Yushchenko - Ukrainian Politics

Ukrainian Politics

Opponents of her husband Viktor Yushchenko criticized her for remaining a U.S. citizen. During the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election campaign, Yushchenko-Chumachenko was accused of exerting the influence of the U.S. government on her husband's decisions, as an employee of the U.S. government or even a Central Intelligence Agency agent. She had earlier been accused by Russian television journalist Mikhail Leontyev of leading a U.S. project to help Yushchenko seize power in Ukraine; in January 2002, she won a libel case against him.

Ukraine's pro-government Inter television channel repeated Leontyev's allegations in 2001, but in January 2003 she won a libel case against the channel as well.

On March 31, 2005, it was announced that Kateryna Yushchenko had become a naturalized Ukrainian citizen. Under Ukrainian law, this required her to renounce her prior U.S. citizenship within two years; however, she did not sign the Oath of Renunciation until August 2007, several months past the deadline.