Ukraine: The old jibe about politicians speaking different languages came true last night when rivals in Ukraine's re-run presidential elections spoke in different tongues to attack each other in an acrimonious, live, televised debate.
In the climax to the campaign for Sunday's re-run poll, opposition candidate Victor Yushchenko accused opponent Victor Yanukovich, the prime minister, of rigging the previous election.
"You are responsible for the falsification of the elections because you were prime minister," Mr Yushchenko said in Ukrainian.
Mr Yanukovich ignored the allegation, saying, in Russian, that the decision to re-run the election was a "coup" perpetuated by the opposition allied with outgoing president Leonid Kuchma.
"We witnessed how the authorities embodied by Kuchma united with representatives of the orange coup and made all those illegal decisions," he said.
The different languages highlighted the issue that splits not just the men but the country, with the Ukrainian-speaking west backing Mr Yushchenko and the Russian-speaking east supporting Mr Yanukovich, a split some fear may mean civil war.
This was always going to be a tense encounter: Despite studio make-up, Mr Yushchenko's face bore the deep pockmarks his supporters say were caused by a poisoning attack ordered by Mr Yanukovich.
Mr Yushchenko did not mention the poisoning, but accused his rival of organising massive state-sponsored corruption to subvert the state. He also said thugs were attacking his supporters in eastern Ukraine making a mockery of campaigning: "Skinheads have been attacking the opposition supporters," he said.
Mr Yushchenko, dressed like Mr Yanukovich in a dark suit, attacked his rival's criminal record, highlighting his two convictions for fraud and assault: "I have never been convicted of crimes, I'm just a peaceful banker."
Mr Yanokovich shot back that his convictions were fabrications by the government of the time, the Soviet Union: "I have been convicted wrongly for being a KGB agent," he complained.
Mr Yanokovich insisted he was an honest man, saying his government had ensured that pensions and salaries had been paid on time to state workers, stabilising the economy.
He told his rival God played an important part in his campaign: "I am a religious man, I swear on the icons that I will do no harm," he said.
This was the first chance ordinary Ukrainians had of seeing the rivals face-to-face since the so-called Orange Revolution saw hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters protest in Kiev and the Supreme Court declare November's election invalid.
In this sharply polarised country, the TV debate is expected to have little bearing on Mr Yushchenko's expected victory, with polls putting him 15 points ahead for Sunday's run-off. Organisers ensured the debate would be fiery by allowing them to question each other, in contrast to their previous TV debate, before the first round of elections in October, when they had had to speak to an interlocutor.
Mr Yushchenko insisted the Orange Revolution was a turning point in history: "This year the Ukrainian people won their freedom, their right to live in a free and democratic country," he said.
Mr Yanukovich has already pledged to ignore Sunday's vote if it goes against him, and to send 35,000 "volunteers" to Kiev to seize the streets, setting matters on edge in the Ukrainian capital.
The debate came as doctors in Amsterdam came closer to naming the strain of dioxin that had poisoned Yushchenko, saying the substance, TCDD, is one of the most toxic of all dioxins.
Their research raises the possibility that a match can be made with chemicals in secret service stockpiles, assuming the government can be persuaded to open its labs, and state prosecutors have already begun investigating the case.