Ukraine's sacked prosecutor general still not back at work days after his official trip ended

Iryna Balachuk — 21 September, 14:27

Ruslan Kravchenko. Photo: Kravchenko on Facebook

Ukraine's former prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko, whose official trip abroad ended on 18 September, has not returned to work as of 14:00 on 21 September.

Source: Mariana Haiovska, spokeswoman for the Prosecutor General's Office, in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda

Quote from Haiovska: "The official end date of Ruslan Kravchenko's official trip was 18 September. As of 14:00 on 21 September, he has not reported to work at the Prosecutor General's Office."

Details: Haiovska explained that Kravchenko has only lost his administrative post – that of prosecutor general – but for now he remains a prosecutor at the Office.

Asked whether he has returned to Ukraine and where he currently is, Haiovska said she does not have that information.

Background:

Kravchenko submitted his resignation as prosecutor general amid an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) into the alleged "protection" of scam call centres.
On 14 September, Kravchenko said he had signed a notice of suspicion against NABU director Semen Kryvonos and accused NABU and SAPO of seizing materials from criminal proceedings against employees of the anti-corruption agencies in the course of searches conducted as part of Operation Carthage.
According to Ukrainska Pravda sources in law enforcement, Kravchenko left Ukraine in an official car on the night of 13-14 September. Kravchenko said in a statement that he had left to go on an official trip. According to an order by the prosecutor general dated 13 September, a copy of which was seen by Ukrainska Pravda, Kravchenko left for Paris for five days "to take part in PACE hearings on Ukrainian children". However, he was not listed among the speakers on the event agenda.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to parliament to support Kravchenko's dismissal as prosecutor general.
On 14 September, Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree suspending Ruslan Kravchenko as prosecutor general. Later, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) backed the dismissal of Ruslan Kravchenko as prosecutor general.

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