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Ukraine's Chief Prosecutor Resigns Over Call Centre Corruption Scandal
Confirmed
In Short: Ukraine's chief prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko has resigned amid corruption allegations related to illegal call centres within his office, according to reports.
Ukraine's chief prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko has resigned over corruption allegations related to illegal call centres within his office, according to reports. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (Sap) said the network in Kravchenko's office received money to protect call centres that carried out phone scams and laundered millions in assets.
The scandal has raised concerns among Kyiv's European partners, with ambassadors from the G7 group warning it could endanger Ukraine's integration into the European Union. Despite the creation of anti-corruption bodies over a decade ago, corruption continues to be a significant problem in the country.
Kravchenko, who has been outspoken against a 'systemic crisis of governance' in Ukraine, has denied any involvement in the alleged protection racket. He said he never instructed anyone to assist illegal call centres and did not use the powers of his post to shield them.
The resignation comes after a search of his offices by Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators over the weekend, following the release of recordings by Nabu and Sap as part of an operation codenamed Carthage. The recordings implicated a senior official of one of the office’s departments in leading a criminal organisation in mid-2025.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- Ukraine is an EU candidate country, a status it was granted on condition it mounted a credible fight against corruption.
- In an interview with the BBC last month, Ukraine's former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said the president needed to be asked about his awareness of potential corruption among his closest team.
- Since his dismissal in mid-July, after reportedly falling out with the head of Ukraine's armed forces, he has been outspoken against what he has called a "systemic crisis of governance" in Ukraine.
- Corruption scandals have plagued Kyiv throughout the war against Russia, with accusations levelled at several members of President Volodymyr Zelensky's inner circle.
- In it, the man said to have led the ring, referred to as “Chancellor”, answers to a figure called the “boss”.
- The Kyiv Independent reported that an earlier statement by the Prosecutor General’s Office itself treated the reference to the “boss” as meaning Kravchenko.