Quick Facts
Biography
Volodymyr Satsyuk (Ukrainian: Володимир Сацюк) is the former deputy head of Ukraine’s intelligence agency. He is suspected of involvement in the poisoning of Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko in 2004.
Career
Satsyuk was a businessman before he joined the Security Service of Ukraine, where he eventually became the Deputy Chairman.
Allegations
Ukrainian prosecutors, after interviewing over 1,000 people, identified Satsyuk as being potentially involved in the poisoning of Yuschenko with dioxin. Yushchenko had attended a private dinner on 5 September 2004 held at Satsyuk's residence, during that year's Ukrainian presidential elections. He was accompanied by two assistants, Taras Zalessky and Alexei Poletukha, the former vice-president of the JS Bank «Ukraine». According to The Times newspaper, "Ukraine’s pro-Russian government at the time was opposed to Yushchenko, fearing his pro-western tendencies and ambitions for Ukraine to join NATO." Satsyuk is currently in hiding in Moscow, Russia, where the government has given him Russian citizenship, meaning he cannot be extradited for trial to another country.