Ukraine's Prosecutor General Kravchenko says he does not plan to resign amid corruption scandal

Ukraine's Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko does not plan to submit his resignation amid the scandal, which arose following the publication of materials from the Operation Carthage conducted by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).

Source: Kravchenko speaking to journalists on 7 September, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda correspondent

Quote from Kravchenko: "I do not feel that I have to do this. There is a procedure: the Verkhovna Rada [Ukrainian parliament – ed.] can vote, and the president can initiate this dismissal. If they do so, I will, of course, comply. I am not clinging to my position.

But there is another thing – the team. I cannot accomplish anything without the team. If the whole team decides that I should resign, then I will do so as well."

Details: Kravchenko also said that he had been invited to a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada's law enforcement committee on 8 September, after which he planned to speak to journalists.

In addition, according to Kravchenko, he has a meeting scheduled with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Background:

• On 4 September, Ukrainska Pravda reported that the National Anti-Curruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) were conducting searches at the premises of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, his deputy Mariia Vdovychenko and Oleh Kiper, Head of Odesa Oblast Military Administration. The Prosecutor General's Office initially denied that a search had been conducted at Kravchenko's home or office.
• On the evening of 4 September, it was reported that NABU and SAPO were conducting investigative actions at the Prosecutor General's Office as part of a special operation to expose a criminal organisation.
• On 5 September, the Office of the Prosecutor General confirmed that NABU detectives carried out searches at offices used by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, his first deputy Mariia Vdovychenko and other staff from the Prosecutor General's Office at around midnight.
• According to Ukrainska Pravda sources in business circles, NABU and SAPO detained Serhii Kropyva, Deputy Head of the International Legal Cooperation Department of the Prosecutor General's Office.
• On 5 September, NABU and SAPO announced that they uncovered a criminal organisation which investigators say was headed by the head of a department at the Prosecutor General's Office. Members of the organisation are suspected of regularly taking bribes from scam call centres and laundering. According to Ukrainska Pravda sources, this refers to Serhii Kropyva.
• On 6 September, a court imposed a pre-trial restraint of remand in custody on Serhii Kropyva, with the alternative of bail set at UAH 120 million (US$2.7 million).
• On 7 September, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a pre-trial restriction on 24-year-old Yelyzaveta Ivakhnenko, a suspect in NABU's Carthage operation concerning protection of fraudulent call centres, ordering 60 days' detention with the alternative of bail set at UAH 20 million (US$450,000).
• The court has also remanded Serhii Kutsyi, driver for Serhii Kropyva, in custody with bail set at UAH 3 million (US$67,500).

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