Mykola Melnychenko

Who is Mykola Melnychenko?

Mykola Melnychenko was a bodyguard of Leonid Kuchma, an officer of the State Security Administration.

Between 1998 and 2000 Melnychenko allegedly recorded numerous conversations that took place in Kuchma's office before fleeing abroad with the secretly taped recordings. The publication of these recordings in 2000 caused a major scandal in Ukraine, which dramatically affected the country's domestic and foreign policy. Melnychenko's principal accusations against Kuchma are the ordering of the kidnapping and murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze. The United States government became involved after one of the records revealed the alleged transfer of an advanced Ukrainian radar system Kolchuha to Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Hundreds of other allegations are based on the recordings.