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{{Short description|Ukrainian political scandal (2000)}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2011}}
{{History of Ukraine}}
{{Leonid Kuchma series}}
The '''Cassette Scandal''' ({{langx|uk|Касетний скандал}} {{IPA|uk|kɐˈsɛtnɪj skɐnˈdɑl|}}; {{langx|ru|Кассетный скандал}}), also known as '''Tapegate''' or '''Kuchmagate''', was a Ukrainian political scandal in November 2000 in which Ukrainian president [[Leonid Kuchma]] was caught on tape ordering the months-earlier kidnapping of journalist [[Georgiy Gongadze]], whose decapitated corpse had recently been found. The scandal was one of the main political events in [[Ukraine]]'s post-independence history, dramatically affecting the country's domestic and foreign policy. The scandal, triggering the [[Ukraine without Kuchma]] protests, also began a slow and gradual shift of Ukraine's political and cultural orientation from [[Russia]] towards the [[Western world|West]], although this only became more pronounced after [[Euromaidan]] in 2013–2014. The scandal also damaged Kuchma's political career.

==Background==
[[File:Georgi gongadse.jpg|thumb|left|[[Georgiy Gongadze]], journalist, founder of a popular Internet newspaper ''[[Ukrayinska Pravda]]'', who was kidnapped and murdered in 2000.]]
Georgiy Gongadze, the editor of a Ukrainian [[online media|internet newspaper]] which focused on corruption, disappeared on 16 September 2000. This produced growing pressure on Ukraine's president Kuchma, who promised to personally oversee the investigation into Gongadze's disappearance. On 3 November a [[decapitation|decapitated]] corpse was discovered not far from Kyiv. As the body had been doused with acid, it was impossible to establish the persona of the deceased through [[fingerprint]] analysis, however friends and relatives identified the body as belonging to Gongadze.<ref name=sec>{{Cite web|title=Secret tape links leader to headless corpse|date=2000-12-15|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/dec/15/russia.ameliagentleman1|website=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=2025-09-16}}</ref>

==Scandal==
===Publication of the recordings===
The scandal started on 28{{nbsp}}November 2000, in [[Kyiv]], when [[Oleksandr Moroz]], head of the opposition [[Socialist Party of Ukraine]], publicly accused Kuchma of involvement in the [[kidnapping|abduction]] of Georgiy Gongadze and numerous other crimes, presenting records of the president's conversations with senior officials as evidence. Moroz named Kuchma's former [[bodyguard]], [[Mykola Melnychenko]], as the source of the records.<ref name=sec/> He played selected recordings of Kuchma's secret conversations for journalists, supposedly confirming the president's order to kidnap Gongadze. That and hundreds of other conversations were later published worldwide by Melnychenko.

Melnychenko, a former security service officer, claimed that the recordings had been made by him in order to stop "abuses of power" by the government.  According to him, the records were made by hiding the recording device under a sofa in the president's office. After creating the recordings, Melnychenko fled abroad.<ref name=sec/> 

Journalists nicknamed the case after the [[compact audio cassette]] used by Moroz. Melnychenko himself was supposedly using [[Digital data|digital]] equipment, not cassettes, for recording in the president's office.

===Content of the tapes===
On the recording, a person with a voice similar to president Kuchma can be heard discussing ways of getting rid of Gongadze, using [[obscenity|crude language]]. No mention of possible murder is present in the tapes, but the speakers talk about kidnapping the journalist or transporting him to [[Chechnya]].<ref name=sec/>    

===Political consequences===
President Kuchma denied that his voice could be heard in the recordings and accused his opponents of provocation, slander and attempt to trigger a political crisis.<ref name=sec/> Mass protests took place in Kyiv from 15 December 2000 to 9 March 2001. Opposition started a campaign of [[non-violent resistance]] called [[Ukraine without Kuchma|UBK]] ("Ukraine without Kuchma"), demanding Kuchma's resignation.  Despite economic growth in the country, President Kuchma's public approval ratings fell below 9%.

In 2002, the governments of the [[United States]] and other countries became more deeply involved after one of the recordings revealed the alleged transfer of a sophisticated Ukrainian defence system [[Kolchuga Radar|Kolchuga]] to [[Saddam Hussein]]'s [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]]. As a result, Leonid Kuchma was [[boycott]]ed by Western governments for a time. In particular, he experienced an offensive diplomatic [[démarche]] when visiting the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] summit that took place on 21–22 November 2002 in [[Prague]]. Breaking the decades-lasting tradition, the list of participating countries was announced in [[French language|French]], not [[English language|English]]. As a result [[Turkey]] was named after Ukraine, instead of the [[United Kingdom]] and the United States, thereby avoiding the appearance of Kuchma next to [[Tony Blair]] and [[George W. Bush]].

Moreover, widely publicized conversations depicted Kuchma as a rude and spiteful person, using profanity and speaking [[Surzhyk]], a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian languages. 

Influenced by all of the above, president Kuchma soon became disillusioned with [[European integration]] and started to loosen Ukraine's relations with the United States and [[European Union]], both critical of his regime. Kuchma boosted integration with Russia, considering the fact that its new leader, [[Vladimir Putin]], continuously supported Kuchma and refused to recognize the allegations.

In September 2003, Ukrainian troops [[Ukrainian involvement in the Iraq War|joined]] U.S.-led invasion forces in the [[Iraq War]], which was widely perceived as an effort by Kuchma to improve relations with the West. After that, high-level relations were partially restored. 

Commenting on the scandal and Melnychenko's actions in particular, Kuchma persistently claimed they were a result of foreign interference, but never accused any specific country. However, some of his statements may be interpreted as cautious hints on the role of either the United States or Russia. According to Kuchma, his voice was indeed on the tapes, but he claimed that they had been selectively edited to distort his meaning.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NI1G_9j1AhcC&dq=Kuchma+edited&pg=PA504 Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia 2004] ([[Europa Publications]]), [[Routledge]], December 12, 2003, {{ISBN|1-85743-187-1}} (page 504)</ref>

==Authenticity of the recordings==
Dutch experts reportedly confirmed, that the tapes had no traces of editing or other alterations, but it was impossible to prove that the voice in them belonged to the president.<ref name=sec/>

Advocates argue that excessive foul language is the proof of a deliberate [[Musical montage|montage]] of the recordings using extrinsic [[audio sample]]s. However, the [[United States ambassador to Ukraine]], [[Carlos Pascual (diplomat)|Carlos Pascual]], said that the tapes are genuine, undistorted, unaltered, and not manipulated, based on the [[FBI]] [[FBI Science and Technology Branch|Electronic Research Facility]]'s analysis of the original recording device and the original recording. These analyses found that there were no unusual sounds which would indicate a tampering of the recording, that the recording was continuous with no breaks, and there was no manipulation of the digital files.<ref name=Danske26112002>{{cite news |url=https://www.danskukrainsk.dk/arkiv_1102_2.html#U.S.%20Ambassador's%20to%20Ukraine%20open%20letter%20to%20the |title=U.S. Ambassador's to Ukraine open letter to the editor of 2000 Newspaper |work=danskukrainsk.dk (Dansk-Ukrainsk Selskab) |last=Pascual |first=Carlos |author-link=Carlos Pascual (diplomat) |date=26 November 2002 |access-date=17 January 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=KuchmaParallelCabinet12102007>
{{cite conference |url=http://www.ukrainianstudies.uottawa.ca/pdf/P_Koshiw_Danyliw07.pdf |title= Kuchma's "Parallel Cabinet": The center of President Kuchma's authoritarian rule based on the Melnychenko recordings |last1=Koshiw |first1=J. V. |date=2007-10-12 |conference= Third Annual Danyliw Research Seminar on Contemporary Ukraine |conference-url= https://www.danyliwseminar.com/  |publisher= |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120120052247/http://www.ukrainianstudies.uottawa.ca/pdf/P_Koshiw_Danyliw07.pdf | url-status = dead |archive-date= 2012-01-20 |location= [[George Washington University]] |access-date= 2022-03-04 |language=en-ca | via = [[University of Ottawa]] | df = dmy-all}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Tarascha Gongadze 1.jpg|thumb|Demonstration in memory of Gongadze in [[Tarashcha]], near the location where his body had been discovered in November 2000]]
Many figures of the scandal remained influential in Ukrainian politics. The case was directly connected with the political career of [[Viktor Yushchenko]], Ukraine's [[prime minister]] at the time. Oleksander Moroz concluded an alliance with Yushchenko, resulting in the reformation of Ukraine's [[constitution]] (in favor of the [[Verkhovna Rada|parliament]]). Hundreds of politicians and activists taking part in the 2001 protests led the 2004 [[Orange Revolution]]. Yushchenko led the revolution after the [[2004 Ukrainian presidential election|presidential election]], and became president on 23 January 2005.

Mykola Melnychenko (who received U.S. [[political asylum]]) released new portions of his recordings. In 2004, [[Volodymyr Tsvil]], a Ukrainian businessman who assisted Melnychenko in his escape, publicly accused him of not revealing certain details of the case and trying to sell the audio archive to Kuchma's aides. Melnychenko visited Ukraine in 2005 to release new allegation details, but has not disclosed any details of his possible eavesdropping operation.

The criminal investigation regarding the circumstances of Melnychenko's records and Georgiy Gongadze's death remains inconclusive despite a mass of information revealed by numerous journalistic investigations.

Melnychenko's recordings were declared evidence when Kuchma was charged with abuse of office and giving illegal orders to [[Interior Ministry]] officials; a criminal case into the murder of Gongadze was opened against Kuchma on 21 March 2011.<ref name=TapesMarchuk>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/101374/ Marchuk says he had no face-to-face interrogations with Kuchma or Melnychenko], [[Kyiv Post]] (April 1, 2011)</ref> A Ukrainian district court ordered prosecutors to drop criminal charges against Kuchma on 14 December 2011 on grounds that evidence linking him to the murder of Gongadze was insufficient.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/118929/ Court clears Kuchma of Gongadze murder charges], [[Kyiv Post]] (14 December 2011)</ref> The court rejected Melnychenko's recordings as evidence.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/118919/ Court rejects Melnychenko's tapes as evidence in Gongadze case], [[Kyiv Post]] (14 December 2011)</ref>

==See also==
*[[Myroslava Gongadze]], widow of Georgiy Gongadze.
*[[Orange Revolution]]
*''[[Ukrayinska Pravda]]'', newspaper founded by Gongadze
*[[Mykola Melnychenko]], bodyguard of the former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma.
*[[Politics of Ukraine]]
*[[History of Ukraine]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*[http://www.slate.com/id/95755|Slate slate.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201195857/http://www.slate.com/id/95755%7CSlate |date=2007-12-01 }} - Article on Gongadze scandal
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060115134725/http://www.gongadze.org/case.eng.htm REQUIEM'2002] - Article by Reporters Sans Frontières
*[https://www.theguardian.com/Archive/Article/0,4273,4142842,00.html Guardian Unlimited] -  Kuchmagate
{{refend}}

{{Political scandals in Ukraine}}
{{Politics of Ukraine footer}}

[[Category:2000 in Ukraine]]
[[Category:History of Ukraine since 1991]]
[[Category:Political scandals in Ukraine]]
[[Category:Ukrainska Pravda]]
[[Category:Leonid Kuchma]]
[[Category:2000 scandals]]
[[Category:November 2000 in Ukraine]]
[[Category:Audio evidence]]
[[Category:Iraq–Ukraine relations]]