Extra Security Measure

Presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, who leads the opposition Our Ukraine bloc, said on 11 August that Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych is responsible for Yushchenko being shadowed in Crimea earlier this week, UNIAN reported. "It is work of this government, Yanukovych's government, to which the Interior Ministry and Interior Minister Mykola Bilokon are directly subordinated," Yushchenko said. Yushchenko was referring to the detention of an Interior Ministry officer who was clandestinely filming Yushchenko's stay in Crimea on 10 August. Meanwhile, Deputy Interior Minister Petro Opanasenko said on a national television channel on 11 August that the detained officer was there merely to ensure Yushchenko's own safety and protect him from possible "terrorist acts." Asked by the TV presenter why Yushchenko was not informed about this extra security measure, Opanasenko replied that Yushchenko did not have to know.