You're reading: Melnychenko: Report came from Ukraine to Israel that I wanted to assassinate Yanukovych

Former Major of the State Department of Guard Mykola Melnychenko has said he was told on November 30 by law enforcement officers while detained in Israel that reports had come from Ukraine that he was planning to assassinate the Ukrainian president, the Izvestiya in Ukraine publication reported on Tuesday, citing the former major.

Melnychenko said that he intended to hand documents to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was visiting Israel at that time, which, in his opinion, would uncover "werewolves in epaulets."

"I found out in which hotel Yanukovych was staying in, booked a room at this hotel, filled in all of the forms and left my contact information, even a phone number… I left an advance payment and went to the hotel the next day. When I got out of the car, I was immediately surrounded by men in civilian clothes. They spoke in Russian, but their documents were in Hebrew. They wanted me to show them my passport. But I gave them a U.S. driver’s license," the ex-mayor said.

Melnychenko also said that he was accused of planning an assassination attempt on Yanukovych.

"We talked for a long time on the street. I asked them to take me to the police station. By the laws of Israel, they had three hours to decide whether to arrest or release me. I was told, now in English, that a report had come from Ukraine came to Israel that I was preparing a terrorist attack against Yanukovych, and that I’m on the international wanted list. They put questions about the presence of weapons and crimes that I committed in Ukraine," he said.

"Without finding anything with me and after conducting a check in the database, the police found out that in 2001 I was given political asylum in the United States. Then they apologized to me and offered a car to drive me home. But then I was unable to meet with Viktor Yanukovych," Melnychenko said.

When asked when he plans to return to Ukraine, he said: "I’ll be back when I’m sure that my life is not under threat."

As reported, on December 7, Pechersky District Court in Kyiv will consider a lawsuit lodged by the lawyers of second Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma (1994-2005) against the opening of a criminal case against him.

Melnychenko’s lawyer, Mykola Nedilko, predicted that the court would cancel a resolution to launch criminal proceedings against Kuchma.

The criminal case against Kuchma was opened on March 21, 2011. He is accused of abuse of office, which subsequently led to the murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze (Part 3, Article 166 of the Criminal Code of 1960). The tapes recorded by Melnychenko, which were made public by Oleksandr Moroz, were declared as material evidence in the case.

Melnychenko was put on the international wanted list on October 14, 2011.