OTTAWA- The former Ukrainian President who sparked that country’s Orange Revolution will visit Ottawa University Sept. 19. Viktor Yushchenko and his wife, Kateryna, will take part in a panel discussion focusing on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union and Ukraine’s independence. He will be presented Ottawa University’s David C. Owen Leadership Institute Outstanding Leadership Award.
The Orange Revolution refers to the massive, but peaceful, protests that upended the bitterly contested presidential election — with claims of widespread fraud — of Viktor Yanukovych, with close ties to Russia and the former heavy-handed president Leonard Kuchman. A new presidential election was held and Yushchenko then beat Yanukovych in a free and fair election. Yushchenko was the target of a poison plot and he’s still affected by the powerful dioxin that nearly killed him. After the Orange movement splintered, he was turned out in a runoff election last year by a rival candidate with ties to the Orange Revolution, who was in turned defeated by Yanukovych. The panel will be held in the Larry Peters auditorium between 9 and 10, followed by a reception in the Mowbray Student Union from 10:00 to 10:45.
There is no charge for the event and the public is invited to attend.
He will also visit the Dole Institute at Kansas University.
Friday, September 9, 8:20 a.m., corrected Monday, Sept. 12, 1 p.m.
