Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Leaves Country Amid Anti-Corruption Showdown

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko reportedly left the country overnight on Monday, Sept. 14 in an official vehicle, as a confrontation with Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies escalated following the “Carthage” investigation into an alleged criminal network operating inside the Prosecutor General’s Office. Ukrainian media reported that Kravchenko left Ukraine overnight, citing sources in law enforcement. The Anti-Corruption Action Center (ANTAC) also reported his departure.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The reported exit came hours after Kravchenko announced that he had signed a notice of suspicion against National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) Director Semen Kryvonos, accusing him of forging official documents to obtain an especially large improper benefit and of fictitious adoption allegedly intended to create grounds to avoid legal responsibility. Kravchenko also announced a separate suspicion against a person close to Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) chief Oleksandr Klymenko, alleging an attempt to offer an improper benefit to High Anti-Corruption Court judges and facilitate draft evasion. NABU and SAPO rejected the allegations, saying no suspicion had officially been served on Kryvonos and denying Kravchenko’s claims that NABU had seized criminal cases referenced in his statement. The developments are the latest escalation in a crisis that began with the “Carthage” operation launched by NABU and SAPO on Sept. 4. Other Topics of Interest Putin Rejects Zelensky’s Proposal for Miami G20 Talks Putin rejects Zelensky’s offer of direct talks at the Miami G20, stating that he will only meet Zelensky in Moscow. How the ‘Carthage’ investigation sparked the crisis NABU and SAPO said on Sept. 4 that they had exposed a criminal group allegedly operating inside the Prosecutor General’s Office and providing protection to a network of fraudulent call centers. The investigation led to the detention of a senior Prosecutor General’s Office official and triggered a political crisis around Kravchenko. Kravchenko denied involvement in the alleged scheme and said on Sept. 6 that the employee implicated in the case had been suspended and that the relevant department would be reviewed. On Sept. 7, President Volodymyr Zelensky met separately with Kravchenko and the heads of NABU and SAPO. Kravchenko subsequently submitted his resignation. Three more senior prosecutors were dismissed the following day. Despite announcing his resignation, Kravchenko remained in office pending parliament’s decision. On Monday, Sept. 14, he escalated the confrontation by announcing the suspicions against Kryvonos and the person close to Klymenko. Zelensky сalls for Kravchenko’s dismissal Zelensky on Monday called on parliament to dismiss Kravchenko, saying the prosecutor general had only one option. “This prosecutor general has only one path: to leave his post. That is exactly what I told him,” Zelensky said. He added that Ukraine had “all the reasons” for the decision and urged lawmakers to approve Kravchenko’s dismissal without delay. The speculation: did Kravchenko leave in exchange for targeting NABU? The ANTAC has suggested a far more controversial explanation for Kravchenko’s departure. ANTAC said Kravchenko could have left Ukraine only with the consent and permission of Zelensky and alleged that he received authorization to travel abroad in exchange for signing the suspicion against Kryvonos. The group described the allegations against NABU and SAPO as retaliation and an attempt to divert attention from the “Carthage” investigation. However, there is currently no publicly established evidence that Zelensky authorized Kravchenko’s departure in exchange for the suspicion against Kryvonos. Ukrainska Pravda reported that Kravchenko’s trip was a planned business trip to Lithuania. Alisa is the Head of News and a correspondent at Kyiv Post, where she leads the newsroom’s coverage of breaking events and global developments. With over seven years of experience in TV journalism, Alisa has reported on international and Ukrainian politics, making complex stories easier to understand. Back in September 2022, Alisa joined the Kyiv Post team.