Zelenskyy asks parliament to dismiss prosecutor general amid graft turmoil
Ukraine's president has formally asked parliament to remove Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, who resigned last week amid corruption investigations and now faces claims he is targeting anti-corruption bodies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has formally asked parliament to dismiss Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, escalating a confrontation that has unfolded alongside a series of corruption investigations.
Kravchenko tendered his resignation last week, describing it as a deliberate political choice, after a corruption inquiry reached his office. Investigators have accused one of his subordinates of running a fraud scheme. Kravchenko himself has not been charged or named a suspect.
In a message posted on Telegram, Zelenskyy said the prosecutor general had only one path left — removal from office — and urged lawmakers to back the dismissal without delay. He added that Kravchenko was free to characterise the move as political pressure.
Kravchenko struck back on Monday, saying he had issued a formal notice of investigation concerning Semen Kryvonos, who heads the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), one of the agencies that had examined his office's conduct. In a video posted on Telegram, Kravchenko accused Kryvonos of using fraudulent means to escape accountability for a corruption-related offence dating back to 2008.
NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), which jointly pursued the case that prompted Kravchenko's resignation, rejected the claims in a joint statement. They described his remarks as the continuation of a systematic attack on independent anti-corruption bodies, which they said began last summer with a push to bring NABU and SAPO under the control of the Prosecutor General's Office. They also said Kryvonos had not been served any notice that he was under investigation, adding that the statements of a prosecutor general who had recently resigned carried no legal weight.
Kravchenko also drew public criticism after announcing he was travelling abroad while his future was being decided. He responded on Telegram that the trip included meetings with international partners, where he intended to raise concerns about unchecked influence within Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies.
The standoff comes as a string of corruption scandals has weighed on Zelenskyy's approval ratings, at a time when Ukraine is still fighting for its survival against Russia's full-scale invasion.