Kravchenko Yuriy Fedorovich - Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine of the times of Leonid Kuchma, whose supporter he was. At the peak of his career, he left the service because of the “cassette scandal” that erupted in the fall of 2000 after the murder of journalist G. Gongadze. What is known about this man who passed away in March 2005 as a result of suicide, the reality of which is still impossible to believe?
Short biography, education
A native of the Kirovograd region (the city of Alexandria) was born on March 5, 1951. The young man could make a sports career, possessed abilities and excellent physical characteristics (height - 190 cm), but life connected him with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where he went from the youngest ranks.
The first educational institution after school was the local industrial college, after which work began at the mine. An electrician by profession, Yuri Kravchenko served in the army, after which he worked in Kirovograd at the Yatran plant. In 1978, he completed his studies at the Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Gorky), returning to his native Kirovograd region, where he began his career with an ordinary inspector of the Obkhssovsk Oblast College. Already in adulthood in Kharkov he defended a dissertation in jurisprudence, received a doctorate in science.
Career growth
Ten years after receiving a diploma at the university, Kravchenko Yuri Fedorovich (photo presented in the article) rose to the position of head of the regional police department. This was preceded by work in the threat department of his native Alexandria, which he headed at the age of thirty. The transfer to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR as the head of the department fighting against drug addiction, and then the appointment of the deputy head of the 7th Directorate, ensured a career take-off.
At 41 years old (1992), he was already deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR, and a few years later he headed the State Customs Committee. It was from this post in 1995 that Kravchenko will be appointed Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Ambitious, strong-willed, he was the owner of rare qualities that earned him the respect of fellow citizens. An educated, responsible, real patriot and a magnificent family man (his wife Tatyana Petrovna lived in peace and harmony for more than 30 years, raising two daughters), Yuri Kravchenko was named among the successors of Leonid Kuchma.
"Cassette scandal"
Everything has changed from the high-profile case of the violent death of an opposition journalist who disappeared in September 2000, George Gongadze. Deputy A. Moroz got into the hands of 300-hour audio recordings from the office, which recorded a conversation between President Kuchma, the head of his administration V. Litvin and Minister Y. Kravchenko about the liquidation of an objectionable journalist. The notes were transmitted by Nikolai Melnichenko, Leonid Kuchma’s personal bodyguard, hiding in the United States. Two months later, the disfigured body of Gongadze without a head was found in the Tarashchansky forest.
The examination did not confirm or refute the authenticity of the audio tapes. Subsequently, the court does not find it possible to appeal to them as evidence in the murder case, but a wave of protest against Kuchma began in the country, as a result of which Yuri Kravchenko lost his post of minister in March 2001.
Further activities
First, the ex-minister headed the Kherson administration, then he led the Institute of Law for a short time, until in 2002 he was appointed chairman of the STAU. But he lost this post two years later. It was morally difficult for a public person who liked to be in the spotlight to stay out of work. Living in an elite village near Kiev, he could not help but realize that he was being monitored externally. Under the influence of the 2004 Orange Revolution, the Gongadze investigation was resumed. Under suspicion were police officers led by General A. Pukach.
On March 3, 2005, Attorney General S. Piskun told the press: Yuri Kravchenko, the former Minister of the Interior, was called for interrogation. The new president, V. Yushchenko, has publicly announced the full completion of the investigation. It remains only to arrest A. Pukach, who was wanted. In 2009, he will be detained. When the case was brought to court, the Prosecutor General's Office officially recognized the existence of an oral order of the Minister of Internal Affairs on the liquidation of the opposition journalist.
March 2005: tragic death
The accused himself failed to confirm or deny this statement, because he never appeared for questioning. On March 4, he was found dead in a barn of a country house among trash cans. The day before he was going to visit his daughter Irina, who had recently given birth to a grandson. Instead, he shot himself twice in the head with an award pistol. The presence of a suicide note found in the inner pocket of the trousers made it possible to develop the only version that the investigation adhered to - suicide.
Do Ukrainians believe that Yuri Kravchenko himself did this? Survey statistics show that most exclude suicide because the general was too fond of life and himself. In addition, there are many circumstances that cast doubt on the official version.
Official version insolvency
The guilt of Kravchenko in the murder of Gongadze is based on an audio recording not recognized by the court and testimony of A. Pukach. He, sentenced to life imprisonment, said he was ready to accept punishment if L. Kuchma and V. Lytvyn followed him in prison. Friends and relatives doubt that Yuri Kravchenko would sacrifice a reputation at the peak of his career and give an order to eliminate a person. Especially knowing that a listening system has been installed in his office.
Professionals find in the actions of the investigation on the suicide of the ex-minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs many shortcomings. They are interested in answers to a number of questions:
- Where is the notebook and pen needed to write a suicide note?
- How could a second shot be made by a person who, after the first, was supposed to be unconscious?
- Why is there no trace of blood on the right hand, and fingerprints of the murdered on the cartridges?
- How did the cartridges appear at a remote distance from each other?
Kravcheno Yuri was buried in the Baykovsky cemetery, where many Kievans came to the 10th anniversary of his death, wishing to know the truth about the death of a famous person in the country. They still hope that justice will prevail and the secret of the death of the general will be finally revealed.