the warm hugs of radio libertymajor mykola melnychenko's and his family’s czech visas were set to expire on february 23, 2001, leading him to seek asylum in a western country.

melnychenko was assisted by radio free europe/radio liberty's ukrainian sercvice staff, led by roman kupchinskiy, and the new york times moscow bureau chief patrick e. tyler.

the journalists wanted help the runaway whistleblower and get their hands on his recordings.

the burning question facing tsvil and boldaniuk at the time was “what are we going to do with melnychenko?” they did not care about his recordings any more or about his accomplices in kyiv. they also did not give a damn about how the tapegate scandal would eventually play out. these had all become secondary concerns. by april 2001, the two men were eager to relieve themselves what they say they considered their primary responsibility: to protect mykola and his family from harm.

since the very first day of melnychenko’s stay in the czech republic, the knew the deadline for resolving mykola's legal status in the country: february 23, 2001, the day the major's and his family's czech visas were due to expire. remaining in ostrava as an illegal alien was risky and could be used as legal grounds for deportation. the czech authorities, of course, knew perfectly well that melnychenko was staying in their territory because melnychenko had filled out the immigration card at the border crossing, specifying who, when and for how long he and his family were playing to stay.

tsvil and boldaniuk surmised that melnychenko could extend his stay in the czech republic, provided officials in prague approve his application for asylum. but the americans had made an offer, one that melnychenko ultimately accepted.

in late-january 2001, tsvil decided to open an electronic mail address for melnychenko, who did not know how to use the internet. it was boldaniuk who first taught mykola to use email. tsvil and boldanyuk later both introduced the major to other basic internet communication tools.

the major began by jotting down messages by hand and then having his wife lilia type them into a pc.

tsvil knew the password of the major’s mailbox and accessed his correspondence. he kept track of all messages, printed out incoming emails and uploaded mylola's correspondence. he opened the mail box mykolamelnychenko@hotmail.com on on january 25, 2001. tsvil immediately informed the radio free europe/radio liberty's ukrainian service about it and, in a matter of a few days, the radio liberty staff swamped 'mykola' with greetings.

the journalists expressed their admiration for his courage. the new york times correspondent patrick tyler next proposed to meet melnychenko in hiding. tyler's first email was forwarded to tsvil by roman kupchinskiy, rfe/rl's ukrainian bureau chief. tsvil and kupchinsky thereafter corresponded directly.

tyler, then chief of the new york times moscow bureau who played key role in suggesting melnychenko to apply for asylum in the us. he informed mykola straightaway that he already chatted up the matter with us ambassador in ukraine carlos pascual.

“february 13 2001. p. tyler – m. melnychenko

subject: kyiv

i am in kyiv. i asked the american ambassador whether or not you would be proposed the

political shelter.”

tyler's articles typically mentioned melnychenko's desire to seek refuge in the west. at the same time, the journalist was inquiring unofficially what the united states would offer.

“february 18 2001

p. tyler – m. melnychenko

subject: legal status

i have written in the new york times that we should pay attention to your legal status. hopefully this will help. i also asked the american ambassador in kyiv why they had not yet granted your the political asylum. i hope that your status will be clarified soon.”

voicing the major’s desire to seek shelter in the west the new york times correspondent apparently tried to influence the respective decision-making process. at first, tsvil could not understand why tyler was so concerned.

before being promoted to the chief of the new york times, moscow bureau patrick had been posted in china. during the 1989 events in tiananmen square, he rescued a high-ranking chinese official, a reformer from among the chinese communist party top officials, who faced execution after the crackdown on the student protests. tyler managed to arrange refuge for the official in the us embassy in beijing. the official was later snuck him out of the country on an aircraft bound for norway.

tyler recognized that mykola needed help. and he wanted to find what was in the recordings, believing that the audio files was the key to a pandora box of crimes. radio liberty journalists shared his interest. they offered the major any kinds of help. and asked for copies of his recordings.

mykola on february 23, 2001 met with the journalists face to face for the first time. tyler had specifically flown in to prague from moscow and met with radio liberty employees beforehand. the new york times correspondent did not speak ukrainian and had dificulty understanding spoken russian. so two rfe/rl journalists, askold krushelnitskiy and irina khalupa, taged along.

– volodya, may i come along?! i will do nothing, only stand by and see. maybe patrick will need some translation. i will not take an interview!

tsvil relented, allowing them to accompany tyler to the interview.

the meeting took place on the outskirts of ostrava in a private room at at the olympus hotel restaurant, a small hotel owned by boldaniuk's union leasing company. the restaurant was closed to the public. they sat there alone, under the hides of killed animals, in “the hunter's room,” waiting for the major to arrive.

mykola showed up wearing a long cloak, glasses and a woman’s wig. to this day, tsvil remains puzzled by what prompted the major to dress up himself up like a clown. according to boldaniuk, mykola had experimented with the attire on several occasions after arriving in ostrava.

tsvil, melnychenko and the journalists drank and chatted for the next five hours. mykola seemed to prefer this type of communication to a formal live interview. he relaxed, drank some wine and gradually warmed up to his interlocutors, especially to askold. melnychenko talked about the recordings: he told the journalists about the interesting snippets of conversations he had found. another topic was figuring out what the future held for melnychenko and his family. mykola's visa expired on the same day he bid farewell to his journalist friends.

the journalists informed the major about conditions for receiving asylum in the western counties and how to apply for it. they offered to put him in touch with the us and great britain embassies and asked for copies of some of his recordings.

on february 26, 2001, an article by tyler appeared on the front page of the new york times. it portrayed the major as a lonely altruist who had got fed up with corruption in ukraine and was fighting against the system. according to tyler, melnychenko was working day and night transcribing his recordings and needed support from the west:

«melnychenko told me that his legal stay in the country where he is hiding expired on tuesday and that he wants to seek assistance from usa or great britain in protecting him and his family until he finishes his work”.

in his february 28 2001 article appearing in the newspaper daily telegraph krushelnitskiy wrote:

“today melnychenko acknowledges that he is concerned about safety of his family. he thinks it will take three months to transcribe all recordings. “i need protection”, – he says – “i trust great britain and would feel myself safe there”.

tyler and krushelnitskiy’s publications were part of the campaign to draw public attention in the western countries to melnychenko's case. the journalists discussed the matter with us and uk officials and concrete proposals did not take long to appear.

“march 2 2001

p. tyler – м.melnychenko

the us embassy had sent name and telephone number of a person with whom you can talk if you want to discuss your legal status. did somebody call volodia with this information?”

“«march 2 2001

p. tyler – v. tsvil

i hope that you have received a telephone call with the name of a person from the us embassy who mykola can call and discuss his legal status.”

likewise, krushelnitskiy arranged for a 'special person' in the british embassy in prague to wait for a call from mykola. this was written in a letter sent by irina halupa to melnychenko by irina halupa, who emphasized that london was very interested in helping the major.

“march 2 2001.

i.halupa – м.melnychenko

greetings! askold called people in london and was told that they are very interested in assisting and supporting you. get in touch with the british embassy in prague. telephone 02–57 530 278 between 10 and 12 o’clock in the morning. the phone will be picked up by an operator; you will need to ask miss yudith gardner. she knows what’s what and will wait for your call. miss gardner used to work in the kyiv embassy, she knows ukrainian or russian and will be waiting for your call. askold will be back from prague by sunday. if you need his help write to him at askire@aol.сот or call the mobile 0606 551 066. sincere greetings and best luck. irina.

i forgot to tell you in the first message to use name ostapenko when calling the british embassy. this was askold’s arrangement. sorry for being absent-minded, i am distressed and very tired. best regards, irina”.

in the end, mykola weighed the two best options of seeking asylum either in the us or great britain. boldaniuk did not barge in, but let melnychenko decide for himself. in the

end, mykola turned applied to the americans for help.

«march 7 2001.

м.melnychenko – p. tyler

dear patrick!

since the results of the expert evaluation and political situation in ukraine do not give me hope for the fast return home and my comrades from the ukrainian side did not solve my issue (the man who was supposed to bring me my papers did not contact me so that i sit without the documents as an illegal immigrant), i am asking you for assistance. i request you to negotiate with the competent people overseas and discuss the possibility for me and my family to stay in your country legally so that we could work and study and feel secure. i would prefer that this matter is kept private to avoid any undesirable political resonance in ukraine.

best regards, m melnychenko.”

however mykola needed papers to achieve any progress. he and lilia remained without their passports, which were still being held by socialist party leaders in kyiv.