KGB officers who held the investigation proposed him a help to find a job in his profession if he ceased all contacts with other human right activist Oksana Meshko.

On February 16, 1979, he sent letters to the newspapers "Radianska Ukrayina" and "Molod Ukrayiny" asking to intervene in the case of human rights activist Vasyl Ovsiyenko.

On March 6 and 7, 1979 law enforcement performed searches at the houses of many Ukrainian human rights activists and writers under the investigation against human rights activist and writer Oles Berdnyk, including the search in the house of Mykhailo Melnyk.

On March 10, 1979, several days after the search, Mykhailo Melnyk wrote a farewell letter to his wife and committed suicide to save his family from further persecutions.

The KGB continued to put pressure on the family of Melnyk, warning his widow to keep away from "unreliable" people.