Graham Stack in Kiev
Among the eternally quarreling Ukrainian politicians Joe Biden met during his visit to Kiev 20-22 July, one of the more pleasant interlocutors may have been speaker of parliament Volodomyr Litvin. Litvin’s ironic charm is a vital resource when bringing calm to Ukraine’s tumultuous and corrupt parliament, where fist fights are common place, and deputies openly conclude shady deals on their mobile phones during speeches. In a culture where looks are vital to political appeal, the 54 year old’s debonair features, coiffed silver hair and a past career as eminent scholar lend him sophistication lacking among the country’s notoriously unruly officials.
But for all his charisma, Litvin may be hiding a secret that could make Biden soon want to forget their meeting.
At exactly the same time as Litvin met Biden in Kiev on the afternoon of Tuesday July 22, security forces detained former police general Oleksiy Pukach, Ukraine’s most wanted man, in a village not far from the capital.
Pukach, in hiding since 2004, was in March 2005 found guilty in absentia of the brutal murder of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, a journalist bitterly critical of former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma. Gongadze’s headless corpse was discovered in a shallow grave November 2000.
Three weeks later, a disgruntled presidential security officer produced audio recordings that implicated Kuchma and his then chief of staff directly in the murder. Kuchma’s chief of staff was none other than current parliamentary speaker Volodomy Litvin, at the time nicknamed ‘the grey cardinal’ of Ukrainian politics.
Litvin has understandably always denied the claims that he ordered the murder of Gongadze. However, investigators say he has refused to provide recorded voice samples needed to verify the authenticity of the recordings. And no one doubts that Pukach was acting on orders from above when carrying out the murder. With Pukach finally apprehended, everyone in Kiev is waiting for the next round of revelations.
They may not have long to wait. According to deputy head of Ukraine’s security service Vasyl Hrytsak, Pukach is singing like a nightingale after a long night of interrogation. “He has confessed to the murder and also confirmed the complicity of individual officials – there will be a lot of interesting information,” Hrytsak told the press. Hrytsak also said Pukach would lead investigators to the place where he buried Gongadze’s head.
Now the vultures are gathering around Litvin.
They may not have long to wait. According to deputy head of Ukraine¹s
security service Vasyl Hrytsak, Pukach is singing like a nightingale after a long night of interrogation. He has confessed to the murder and also confirmed the complicity of individual officials – there will be a lot of interesting information,” Hrytsak told the press. Hrytsak also said Pukach
would lead investigators to the place where he buried Gongadze¹s head.
Sources in the secret service were quoted today saying Pukach had named three former officials as having ordered the killing. One of these ‘occupies a very high position’, according to the sources, and one is dead. This would dovetail with the evidence contained in the tapes: with Litvin the high official, ex=president Kuchma the second still alive, and the deceased third man former interior minister Yuri Kravchenko, who shot himself after Kuchma lost power in 2004.
Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko, himself the target of a near-fatal
and unsolved poisoning when he unseated Kuchma in 2004, confirmed “the public will soon learn very explosive things.” Yushchenko on taking office swore to find and prosecute Gongadze’s killers.
Litvin today accused Yushchenko of “politicising” the arrest of Puchak and the Gongadze murder.
Gongadze’s widow, 37 year old Miroslava, who has fought unceasingly to keep the memory of her husband alive, told the press, “there is every
reason for Leonid Kuchma to be afraid, and there is every reason for
Volodymyr Litvin to be afraid.”
The secret service has said that Puchak will take investigators to where he buried Gongadze’s head. That, together with justice for the men who ordered the murder, may finally bring her closure – nine years too late.
Litvin’s debonair cool may be in for its toughest challenge yet.
And US officials may take note just how deceptive appearances can be in Ukraine and other former Soviet countries.
