Corruption in Kiev: Zelensky dismisses embattled prosecutor after new attack on Western-backed anti-graft agencies
Political infighting in Kiev has intensified since corruption accusations compelled Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko to tender his resignation last week. The disgraced official, who left Ukraine overnight, has accused the graft investigators who took him down of pursuing a power grab.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Zelensky has finally asked the parliament to confirm Kravchenko’s resignation, submitting a formal request a week after the prosecutor general announced his decision. Zelensky signed a decree dismissing the prosecutor after the resignation was upheld by a parliamentary committee. A full-fledged vote on the matter is expected to be held in parliament on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian leader is suspected of striking a deal with his appointee, allowing him to leave the country in exchange for signing off on formal accusations that would allow his eventual successor to go after the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). The heads of the agencies, however, have denied receiving any formal documents, mocking them as a “Telegram notice of suspicion.”
Zelensky tried and failed to place the two Western-backed agencies under the prosecutor general’s office last year. The move was reversed within a few days after a wave of mass protests and threats by foreign donors to withhold aid.
14 September 2026
18:09 GMTOver the past few years, phone scams have grown into a sprawling industry in Ukraine. The ever-evolving fraudulent schemes have extensively targeted Russian citizens, defrauding them of their savings and pushing them into suicide and violent crimes.
Ukraine has become the main source of such fraudulent activities in Russia, with the Russian authorities estimating more than 90% of scammer calls originate in the neighboring country.
The industry is estimated to have generated a few billion dollars annually in recent years from Russian victims alone – and it has expanded to other ‘markets’ as well, with the scammers defrauding people all over the globe.
- 17:27 GMT
The scandal around the Prosecutor General’s office erupted last week, when NABU and SAPO said they uncovered a major scam call center scheme, with high-ranking employees of the agency allegedly shielding it from the law. The participants of the scheme allegedly reported to an individual known under the alias ‘Boss’, believed to be Kravchenko himself.
The anti-graft agencies at the time publicized the evidence they recovered during searches in central Kiev, including a safe stuffed with dollar and euro bills. Some media reported the safe was actually located at Kravchenko’s office, while the chief prosecutor vehemently denied such allegations. Still, no restrictive measures were applied to the top official, who ultimately managed to leave the freely country.
- 16:44 GMT
PACE has denied that the disgraced prosecutor Kravchenko was expected to participate in the upcoming hearing on Ukrainian children in Paris in any capacity. Neither Kravchenko nor “any member of his office” will be present at the event, “neither as a speaker nor as a participant,” the organization told Ukrainian media.
Earlier in the day, the abrupt departure of the prosecutor was reported to be related to a work trip with the PACE gathering listed as the destination.
- 15:30 GMT
Klimenko claimed that intelligence obtained by the anti-corruption agencies indicates the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has been involved in orchestrating the latest attack on NABU and SAPO. Krivonos has also raised similar claims.
“Two weeks ago, SBU officers attempted to gain access to the court system’s log to see which NABU motions were being submitted to the [High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine],” he said.
- 14:58 GMT
Krivonos has blamed Moscow for scam-call centers widely operating in Ukraine, describing it a “Russian subversion act.” The NABU chief pointed at the fact that scammers have been targeting citizens of EU countries to back up the allegation.
“In other words, this is purely work for the Russians,” Krivonos asserted, adding that he had discussed the matter with Zelensky.
The official, however, failed to mention the fact that Ukrainian scammers have been targeting mostly Russians for years already, with the scale of their operations sharply growing since the escalation of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. The malicious actors have repeatedly recruited their victims to stage terrorist attacks and sabotage in Russia, while the proceeds of the scams have been allegedly funneled directly to bankroll the Ukrainian military.
- 14:52 GMT
The attack on anti-corruption agencies launched by the prosecutor general was a “reaction” to the ongoing operation code-named “Carthage,” Klimenko has claimed. The operation has targeted scam-call centers, which have allegedly been protected by senior officials within the Prosecutor General’s Office.
- 14:40 GMT
Speaking at a joint briefing with SAPO head Aleksander Klimenko, NABU director Semyon Krivonos claimed that he had not received any official documents from the disgraced prosecutor, describing the alleged accusations against him as a “Telegram notice of suspicion.”
The official cited a standoff between the Western-backed anti-corruption agencies and prosecutors which occurred last year, noting that at the time detectives with NABU and SAPO received notices of suspicion en masse.
“We knew that a similar attack on NABU and SAPO was being prepared. And, in fact, it has happened,” Krivonos stated.
- 14:22 GMT
Zelensky has signed a decree formally dismissing Kravchenko from his post. Earlier in the day, the dismissal of the disgraced prosecutor was unanimously approved by the parliamentary committee on law enforcement. The decision now must be upheld at a parliamentary session, with the voting on the matter expected on Tuesday.
- 13:49 GMT
NABU and SAPO recently charged Zelensky’s deputy head of office, Irina Mudraya, with laundering millions of dollars through a state-owned bank to post bail for former Energy Minister German Galushchenko, who himself is a suspect in the Mindich investigation.
The scheme allegedly involved de-activiating online anti-money laundering measures at Sense Bank and stuffing bags of cash into the financial institution.
Mudraya remains in pre-trial detention, suggesting it has become harder for corruption suspects associated with the Ukrainian leader to just walk free as their cases progress through the criminal justice system.
- 13:44 GMT
Kravchenko’s departure, hours before potential arrest, echoes that of Timur Mindich, Zelensky’s long-time business associate, accused of running a $100 million energy sector kickback scheme. He fled to Israel last November, reportedly hours before he was set to be detained by NABU.
The ex-deputy head of SAPO, Andrey Sinyuk, has been named in Ukrainian media as the mole who gave Mindich the heads-up he needed to escape arrest.
NABU and SAPO have repeatedly complained that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is illegally surveilling their staff.
The SBU operates directly under Zelensky and enforces some of his most controversial policies, such as the crackdown on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the nation’s largest religious denomination.
