The message from Ukrainska Pravda: "Georgiy, you are with us"

16 September
The 31-year-old Gongadze disappears at 10pm on his way home. Over the following days, investigators suggest he may have run away to escape debts.

Eighty journalists write an open letter to President Kuchma calling for him to guarantee press freedom.

20 September
The International Press Institute writes to President Kuchma to say that it is "deeply worried" about the fate of Gongadze.

21 September
The Ukrainian parliament sets up a special commission to investigate the Gongadze case.

2 November
Headless body found in a rubbish tip by the side of a road near Tarashcha, 75 miles north of Kiev.

Kuchma says the tapes have been edited

15 November
After helping to identify the body, by describing shrapnel wounds Gongadze had received covering a conflict in his native Georgia, Gongadze's colleagues are preparing to have it transferred from Tarashcha to Kiev.

But the body disappears from the mortuary - and in an abrupt U-turn the prosecutor's office suggests it may not be Gongadze's after all.

28 November
Socialist leader Oleskandr Moroz and a former presidential security guard publicise audio tapes in which President Kuchma is heard discussing with Interior Minister Yuri Kravchenko how to deal with the troublesome Gongadze.

Mr Kuchma rages: "Drive him out! Throw him out! Give him to the Chechens!" The president threatens legal charges. Later he admits the voice is his, but says the tapes have been edited to falsify his words.

Protesters burn portraits of Kuchma

9 December
Mr Kuchma and other officials are questioned by prosecutors. Large demonstrations begin in Kiev. Some protesters set up a tent city, camping out in the city centre.

10 January
Prosecutor-General Mykhailo Potebenko says DNA tests show a 99.66% probability that the headless body is Gongadze's, but he calls for further tests.

5 February
The European Union calls for a full inquiry, and supports the Council of Europe's call for an independent analysis of the tapes. Mr Potebenko suddenly goes on leave.

6 February
Kiev hit by another mass demonstration, repeated on 11 February. Ukraine's fractious opposition is now largely united in calling for Mr Kuchma's impeachment.

10 February
Mr Kuchma sacks the head of the Ukrainian Security Service, Leonid Derkach, and the president's chief bodyguard, Volodymyr Shepel.