Ukraine sex scandals sully presidential campaign

The list of suspects involved was made public last week, coinciding with the launch of the campaign for presidential polls on Monday.

A child sex scandal and rape allegations have muddied the first days of Ukraine's presidential campaign, boding more sordid mud-slinging as the rival camps trade blows before the January 17 vote.

Earlier this month, supporters of the frontrunner, ex-premier Viktor Yanukovich alleged that members of Prime Minster Yulia Tymoshenko's competing political bloc were implicated in a child molestation case at a famed summer camp in Crimea.

The list of suspects involved was made public last week, coinciding with the launch of the campaign for presidential polls on Monday.

All three lawmakers named fiercely deny the charges, while a fourth man and the adoptive father of one of the children has been jailed since August.

The list of suspects involved was made public last week

Tymoshenko has refrained from comment on the case but her supporters have hit back with highly personal accusations against Yanukovich concerning his disputed past.

In a heated parliamentary debate Tuesday, Prosecutor General Oleksander Medvedko confirmed three members of Tymoshenko's bloc had been accused of sexually abusing a boy and a girl at the Artek camp, a legendary Soviet-era retreat that is still in operation.

He added, however, that the accusations against the deputies first surfaced only on October 13 -- seven months after the mother of the adopted children brought child molestation charges against her ex-husband in April.

-The investigation into the deputies' possible involvement is ongoing- Medvedko told parliament. -I ask not to transform this affair into a farce and an investigation by the whole country.-

The Ukrainian press has poured over details of the allegation, but many observers have shrugged off the case as a smear campaign ahead of the vote.

79 percent of Ukrainians said they had heard of the accusation

-A sordid PR attack or sexual acts that are no less repugnant?- said Ukrainskaya Pravda. -With the approach of the presidential vote, it's becoming harder to tell fact from political invention.-

Another daily, Komsomolskaya Pravada bemoaned the overall scandal - If we grant that this is evidence of political tactics, it's scary. The campaign has barely started! What else do the dark PR specialists have planned for Ukrainians?-

In a weekend poll by the Gorchenin Institute, 79 percent of Ukrainians said they had heard of the accusation of paedophilia, while 51 percent of respondents ascribed the charges against deputies to "dirty political games."

Tymoshenko bloc MP Sergei Sobolyev meanwhile called on the prosecutor general to investigate a rape allegation against Yanukovich dating back to the 1970s which has been repeatedly brought up by his enemies.

Recent polls show Tymoshenko is Yanukovich's closest contender for the presidency

Yanukovich's past remains a sensitive issue that is played on by his foes. He was briefly jailed in his youth in the eastern city of Donetsk but the convictions have since been struck off the record by the regional court.

In the last 2004 polls, mass fraud, interference from Moscow and bizarre skin poisoning of Yushchenko sparked anger and drew hundreds of thousands onto the street in the so-called Orange Revolution to force a re-run.

Recent polls show Tymoshenko is Yanukovich's closest contender for the presidency and the long-time foes are expected to face-off against each other in a runoff vote.

President Viktor Yushchenko has abysmal single digit popularity ratings and is expected to drop out after the first round of voting.

Tymoshenko is seen as pro-European -- though also known for her shifting allegiances -- while Yanukovich heads the pro-Moscow Regions Party, which draws his strongest support from the Russian-speaking east of Ukraine.