Yuriy Kravchenko

A spokeswoman for the ministry said Kravchenko apparently shot himself in his summer house in an exclusive neighborhood outside Kiev.

President Viktor Yushchenko said Kravchenko's death could be linked to the investigation into the killing of Internet journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, who investigated corruption under former President Leonid Kuchma.

Gongadze was abducted in Kiev in September 2000 and his decapitated body was found months later buried in a forest outside the capital. His death sparked months of protests against Kuchma, who the opposition alleged had ordered the killing to silence the muckraking journalist.

The Japan Times Weekly: March 12, 2005
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