KIEV, March 28 - President Viktor Yanukovych, in his first comment after former President Leonid Kuchma was charged with involvement in the murder of a journalist in 2000, said the investigation is aimed at finding “answers.”

Many agree the charges against Kuchma suggesting his alleged involvement in the murder of Heorhiy Gongadze in September 2000 may lead to sweeping political and business changes in Ukraine.

But Yanukovych denied any political connection.

“The rumors are that this investigation has been turning into a modern political process,” Yanukovych said Monday while on a trip to Singapore. “I will say that these are only rumors.”

Yanukovych said the investigation is a chance for Kuchma to answer the questions.

“Of course, this is unpleasant for Leonid Danylovych [Kuchma], but we have to finish [the investigation] one day at last,” Yanukovych said. “It’s enough taking sleeping pills and time to start to get a life. And for this, one would have to give an answer to the question, and it’s over.”

The case against Kuchma has been escalating rapidly with many observers trying to figure out possible political fallout, and many agree the case may bring significant political changes.

Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn already admitted that he has come under attack after the charges had been made against Kuchma. Lytvyn was Kuchma’s chief of staff she the murder had taken place.

The political pressure on Lytvyn will weaken his ability to demonstrate independent position, analysts said.

Meanwhile, Mykola Melnychenko, the key witness in the Kuchma investigation, visited Moscow for an ‘personal’ trip on Saturday just ahead of their planned face-to-face meeting.

Melnychenko was Kuchma’s bodyguard for years before escaping the country in 2000 following the release of his recordings indicating Kuchma’s possible involvement in the murder of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze in September 2000.

Some people, like Boris Berezovskiy, a foe of powerful Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who worked closely with Melnychenko, said the former bodyguard had too frequent contacts with Moscow that may be suggestive of his connection to FSB, the Russian security agency.

Apparently seeking to deny those allegations, Melnychenko confirmed his trip to Moscow, but said it was a private matter.

“I am a free man, I don’t have any travel restrictions, so I can travel wherever I want, including to Russia,” Melnychenko told reporters in front of the Prosecutor General’s Office on Monday. “But I can say for sure that I have not met Putin or either [Nikolay] Patrushev [a former chief of FSB].”

Meanwhile, in order to strengthen his defense team, Kuchma hired Alan Dershowitz, a star U.S. lawyer who worked on several high-profile legal cases to act as an adviser in his defense against murder charges.

Other witnesses in the case against Kuchma include Olekskiy Pukach, a former top police officer who is alleged to have actually killed Gongadze.

Pukach, who was arrested in July 2009 after six-year man hunt, is seen by investigators as a person who can lead investigation to those who had actually ordered the murder, which had shaken Ukraine’s political landscape since September 2000. (tl/ez)