Ukraine's ex-interior minister, Yuriy Lutsenko, who was detained on embezzlement charges on Sunday, said he was targeted for his alleged involvement in the poisoning of former president Viktor Yushchenko.
Yushchenko was poisoned with dioxin in the run-up to the 2004 presidential election. It made him seriously ill and scarred his face.
"I congratulate Viktor Yushchenko that after six years of investigation into his poisoning, there is finally a detainee," Lutsenko was quoted as saying in a statement by his opposition party.
"Given the current political situation, I think it is absolutely logical that the detainee should be a former interior minister," he said.
KIEV, December 26 (RIA Novosti)