Ex-Kuchma guard says Scherban's killing ordered by Lazarenko, funded by Kyrychenko and Tymoshenko

Former State Guard Department Major Mykola Melnychenko has posted a statement on Facebook regarding the killing of Ukrainian MP Yevhen Scherban in 1996.

In particular, he said that according to the conversations he recorded, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko ordered Scherban's killing, whereas Lazarenko's business partner, Petro Kyrychenko, and former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko financed the murder.

"Lazarenko was named a person that ordered Scherban's murder, and a reason for this was taking control of Donetsk region. The killing was organized by Kushnir [the leader of a criminal group that operated in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, who died in Donetsk's detention center], and the payment for the killing was made by Kyrychenko and Tymoshenko," reads the statement.

The statement also notes that the ex-major learned of the circumstances of the investigation into the murder from the conversations that he heard in the office of former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma with senior officials and civil servants.

"I learned of the circumstances of the investigation into this crime from the conversations that I heard in Kuchma's office. Kuchma had conversations with Ukrainian Prosecutor General [Mykhailo] Potebenko, [Mykola] Obykhod, and others. I have the recordings of these conversations," Melnychenko said.

He also said that the audio recordings, in his opinion, clearly say how participants in the conversation discussed evidence of Lazarenko's guilt in committing the killing of MP Scherban.

"The [murder] was also discussed with other individuals, in particular, with former Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Obykhod," Melnychenko said.

As reported, Yevhen Scherban's son, Ruslan Scherban, a member of the Donetsk Regional Council, said at a press conference on April 4, 2012 that he had passed documents indicating to Tymoshenko's and Lazarenko's possible involvement in his father's murder to the Prosecutor General's Office.

Tymoshenko and Lazarenko have categorically denied their involvement in the murder.