Link source. Kuchma and Yanukovych approved of over 1,000 Ukraine troops to go to Iraq and fought the Orange to keep them there- that is a fact
US, UK Worried Over Ukraine Arms Sales
'Kuchmagate' and Iraq (Ukraine weapons sales to Iraq) - Washington accused Ukraine of violating UN sanctions against Iraq by selling it four sophisticated Kolchuga radar system units.
At the centre of the Iraqi arms scandal stand the hundreds of hours of tapes made illicitly in the office of Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma by security guard Mykola Melnychenko. The portion of the tapes dealing with Iraq was only released in March on the eve of the Ukrainian elections. The existence of the tape of the Iraqi radar sale was reported earlier in the year but at that stage the US still did not publicly back up the accusations. In March, shortly before the Iraq allegations surfaced, Valeriy Malyev, head of the arms export company Ukrspetseksport, died in a mysterious car accident.
The US has been careful to indicate that the re-examination of its policy towards Ukraine is primarily directed against Kuchma, not the country as a whole, which has received $2 billion in aid since 1994 and is the fourth largest recipient of US aid.
The tape, which has been authenticated by the FBI, is of a conversation between Kuchma, Malyev, and then Security Service chief Leonid Derkach (who is accused of other illegal arms sales) which took place in July 2000. In April 1999, US intelligence sources discovered that Ukraine had signed a secret agreement for military co-operation with Iraq in November 1998. In January 1999, a Ukrainian delegation led by a deputy minister visited Iraq. During the first stage of the agreement equipment identified for customs as 'agricultural' was sent to Iraq.
On the Melnychenko tape of the July 2000 meeting, Kuchma is heard giving the go ahead to sell four Kolchuga units to Iraq for $100 million. Melnychenko claims to know the name of a "high-ranking Russian official" who was also alleged to be present. If this turns out to be true, the US-Russian alliance against international terrorism could come under serious strain.
The scenario of events after the meeting follows a clear pattern that seems to confirm the Kolchuga units were indeed dispatched to Iraq. Only four days after the conversation, the government released the Kolchuga system from any export restrictions. On 9 October 2000, an agreement on trade and scientific and technical co-operation was signed with Iraq. This was ratified by the Ukrainian parliament on 15 November 2001.