Ukraine;s president ends sick leave, to return to work on Monday

USPA News - Embattled Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has recovered from his illness and will return to work on Monday, his office said on Sunday as tens of thousands gathered in Kiev`s main square, ending rumors that the sudden sick leave was part of preparations for him to step down. "After completing the required treatment, the President of Ukraine is feeling good and his condition has been assessed as satisfactory," said Oleksandr Orda, the deputy head of the State Affairs Department on Medical Issues, on Sunday. "Viktor Yanukovych plans to go to work on Monday."

In a statement released on Thursday, Orda had said Yanukovych was on sick leave due to acute respiratory disease accompanied by fever, fueling speculation about the president`s intentions. But Yanukovych continued some of his work, repealing the controversial anti-protest laws that set off week-long clashes between protesters and police and signing an amnesty bill, which was rejected by the opposition. Also on Sunday, leading opposition activist Dmytro Bulatov left a Kiev clinic where he had been treated after he claimed to have been kidnapped and tortured for more than a week over his role in anti-government protests. He later arrived in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius where he had been offered free medical treatment, and a Kiev court said earlier on Sunday he was free to seek foreign treatment. "Protester of Euromaidan who suffered severe torturing - Bulatov - [is] on his way to Lithuania for health treatment. Wish good recovery!" Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevicius said before Bulatov arrived in Lithuania. A text message from Bulatov later said his "head is turning of joy."