Yushchenko Wife Gets Ukraine Citizenship

KIEV, Ukraine -- The American-born wife of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has received Ukrainian citizenship, the president's spokeswoman said.

Kateryna Yushchenko applied for Ukrainian citizenship after spending five years in the country and fulfilling other legal requirements, the spokeswoman Irina Herashchenko said Thursday.


Kateryna and Viktor Yushchenko
Under Ukrainian law, she had to renounce her U.S. citizenship before obtaining a Ukrainian passport.

Yushchenko and his wife were scheduled to travel to the United States on Sunday.

Political opponents of the Western-friendly leader - who came to power earlier this year after the Supreme Court annulled a presidential election rigged by his Moscow-backed rival and ordered a repeat ballot - had pointed at Yushchenko's American wife as evidence of what they called his unhealthy U.S allegiances.