According to media outlets, an ex-major of the state VIP protection office of Ukraine, Nikolai Melnichenko, was arrested in Naples airport, Italy, on Friday, August 3.
In November 2000, he was involved in a "cassette scandal", when the Ukrainian parliament released audio recordings made by Melnichenko in the office of the Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma confirming that Kuchma issued orders to kill his critic, journalist Gongadze.
The fact that Melnichenko has close ties with the Russian KGB (FSB) was disclosed in 2005 by fugitive FSB colonel Litvinenko who was later poisoned by Putin in London with polonium-210 in 2006.
In early April 2005, Litvinenko said in an interview to the Russian Service of the US propaganda radio RFE/RL that he would not rule out that ex-major Melnichenko could have sold secret information to the Russian KGB.
According to Litvinenko, in 2002, Melnichenko visited him to London and offered to make money together.
"He showed me materials on a colonel of the Russian military intelligence GRU, who had been recruited by the Americans in Italy. He asked me if I have contact with the Russian secret services, such as the SVR, or the FSB, to sell the information", said Litvinenko.
According to Litvinenko, he advised Melnichenko not to do that. As Litvinenko said, after that, Melnichenko will have serious problems in the United States and Ukraine.
Litvinenko said that Melnicheko had made a deal with the Russians afterall.
"He was in Moscow. In 2004, he told me that he visited Moscow, and showed me a ticket. That is, two years later he traveled to Moscow to the FSB. After that he got money. Where did he get the money from?", asked Litvinenko.
Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center
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