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Ukraine's Prosecutor General Resigns Amid Anti-Corruption Clash
Confirmed
In Short: Ukraine's Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko resigned amid accusations from anti-graft agencies, prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for his dismissal.
Ukraine's Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko resigned on Monday, hours after he accused the head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), Semen Kryvonos, of crimes, according to reports from the Kyiv Post. Kravchenko also alleged an attempt by a person close to the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) to offer improper benefits to judges and facilitate draft evasion.
In response, President Zelensky called for the dismissal of Kravchenko, stating, 'This prosecutor general has only one path: to leave his post.' The Kyiv Post reported that Kravchenko had previously approved charges against Kryvonos and a person close to SAPO chief Oleksandr Klymenko, though both denied involvement.
Earlier in September, NABU and SAPO had exposed a criminal group allegedly operating within the Prosecutor General’s Office, providing protection to a network of fraudulent call centers. Kravchenko had submitted his resignation, calling it a 'political decision' days after anti-corruption investigators searched his office premises and those of other senior officials.
Kravchenko claimed he was heading abroad on a business trip to brief partners on the 'real state of affairs' in Ukraine's anti-corruption system and 'signs of uncontrolled influence' within the agencies, according to the Kyiv Post.
What's confirmed
- Ukraine's Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko resigned on Monday, hours after he accused the head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), Semen Kryvonos, of crimes, according to reports from the Kyiv Post. Kravchenko also alleged an attempt by a person close to the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) to offer improper benefits to judges and facilitate draft evasion.
- In response, President Zelensky called for the dismissal of Kravchenko, stating, 'This prosecutor general has only one path: to leave his post.' The Kyiv Post reported that Kravchenko had previously approved charges against Kryvonos and a person close to SAPO chief Oleksandr Klymenko, though both denied involvement.
- Earlier in September, NABU and SAPO had exposed a criminal group allegedly operating within the Prosecutor General’s Office, providing protection to a network of fraudulent call centers. Kravchenko had submitted his resignation, calling it a 'political decision' days after anti-corruption investigators searched his office premises and those of other senior officials.
- Kravchenko claimed he was heading abroad on a business trip to brief partners on the 'real state of affairs' in Ukraine's anti-corruption system and 'signs of uncontrolled influence' within the agencies, according to the Kyiv Post.
What's still developing
- Back in September 2022, Alisa joined the Kyiv Post team.
- "I suspect (Kryvonos) of falsifying official documents in order to obtain especially large illicit benefit, as well as of a sham adoption intended to create artificial grounds for avoiding liability in cour," Kravchenko said, publishing the texts of the alleged charges.
- "NABU and SAPO view these actions as a continuation of the systematic attack on the independence of anti-corruption agencies," the bureau said.
- “This is a political decision. And I made it consciously,” Kravchenko said in a statement on Telegram, adding that he did not want the prosecutor general’s post to become an instrument of political confrontation.
- Ukrainska Pravda identified the suspected official as Serhii Kropyva, deputy head of the Prosecutor General’s Office’s International Legal Cooperation Department.