A former officer of the State Guard Department of Ukraine, Mykola Melnychenko, who was put on the international wanted list, was detained at Kyiv's Boryspil International Airport on Wednesday, Interfax-Ukraine learned at the press center of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

"Officers of the SBU together with border guards detained Ukrainian citizen Melnychenko, who is on the international wanted list, at Boryspil Airport on October 24 at the order of Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv," the SBU press center reported.

The SBU said that Melnychenko had flown in from New York.

In November 2000, a tape scandal broke out in Ukraine after the parliament revealed audio recordings allegedly made by Melnychenko at the office of then president Leonid Kuchma. Melnychenko was charged with divulging state secrets, exceeding his powers and using forged documents.

In September 2011, Melnychenko was put on the wanted list. A court in Kyiv ordered his remand into custody, as Melnychenko had skipped bail and absconded.

Melnychenko was arrested in Italy on August 3. On August 14, an appellate court in Naples decided to release him.