Ukraine's Prosecutor General Kravchenko resigns after NABU searches expose alleged call-centre protection scheme

Why it matters

The resignation removes Ukraine's chief prosecutor days into a sweeping anti-corruption investigation into the Office of the Prosecutor General itself, making it the most prominent result so far of the 'Carthage' operation. It tests the independence of Ukraine's NABU and SAPO, which was the focal point of the 2025 protests and G7 warnings about EU integration. Reports that OGP representatives may have 'roofed' hundreds of fraudulent call centres, with alleged monthly takings of up to $3.5 million, point at a sizable criminal economy inside law enforcement, and the discovery of surveillance materials on NABU and SAPO leadership during the searches raises questions about a possible OGP counter-attack against the investigators.

What happened

On 4 September, NABU and SAPO carried out searches at the Office of the Prosecutor General (OGP) as part of an operation codenamed 'Carthage'. Detectives searched the offices of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, his deputy Mariia Vdovychenko, and Odesa OVA head Oleh Kiper; OGP employees initially refused access despite the court order, and NABU staff used ladders to enter the building, with one detective injured. The next day, NABU and SAPO announced they had exposed a criminal organisation allegedly led by a senior OGP official that systematically took bribes from fraudulent call centres and laundered assets. The main suspect was identified as Serhiy Kropyva, deputy head of the OGP's Department of International Cooperation, detained in Lviv. On 6 September, the High Anti-Corruption Court (VAKS) ordered Kropyva held in custody until 2 November with alternative bail of 120 million hryvnia; investigators say the laundered assets exceed 89 million hryvnia. On 7 September, VAKS also detained Yelyzaveta Ivakhnenko, a 24-year-old identified as Kropyva's cohabitant under the code name 'Muza', for 60 days with 20 million hryvnia bail, and Kropyva's driver Serhiy Kutsyi until 3 November with 3 million hryvnia bail. On the evening of 7 September, Kravchenko submitted his resignation, calling it a 'political decision' made 'consciously' and denying any involvement in the alleged scheme. President Volodymyr Zelensky said he met Kravchenko and the heads of NABU and SAPO the same day and that the resignation submission would be sent to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament. According to sources cited by Ukrainska Pravda, OGP representatives may have received roughly $7,000 per month from each call centre and, at a peak in 2026, may have controlled up to 500 centres, potentially yielding up to $3.5 million a month; materials found at Vdovychenko are reported to indicate surveillance of NABU director Semen Kryvonos and SAPO head Oleksandr Klymenko and their families.

How Ukrainian sources describe it

Ukrainian-language coverage is dominated by investigative detail. Reports focus on the alleged $7,000-per-month payment per call centre, the lifestyle trail tying Kropyva's relatives to real estate in Kyiv and the Glacier apart-hotel in Bukovel (where Bihus.Info says four apartments and three parking spaces, totalling about 28.5 million hryvnia, were acquired), and the chain of VAKS bail decisions. Most Ukrainian outlets centre NABU and SAPO as the actors driving accountability and quote Zelensky confirming the resignation and its submission to the Verkhovna Rada. Several Ukrainian reports emphasise that materials found at First Deputy Prosecutor General Vdovychenko allegedly showed surveillance of NABU and SAPO leadership, framing this as evidence the OGP was preparing a counter-attack against the anti-corruption bodies. Civil-society voices such as Vitaliy Shabunin are quoted describing the case as a 'mafia story', and Ukrainian coverage gives significant space to courtroom detail, including the charges under Articles 255 and 209 of the Criminal Code.

How international sources describe it

International coverage (BBC, APA) frames the resignation primarily as a top-level corruption scandal in a country at war, foregrounding Kravchenko's denial, his statement about not wanting his office to become a 'tool of political confrontation', and the scale of the alleged money-laundering. These outlets place the case in the broader context of Ukraine's anti-corruption institutions and its EU candidacy, referencing the 2025 protests over NABU and SAPO independence and the warnings from G7 ambassadors. Western framing tends to highlight the political consequences for Zelensky and Ukraine's reform credentials rather than the investigative specifics of the call-centre scheme.

Where reporting differs

Sources diverge on what triggered the resignation: Zelensky's own account, echoed by some Ukrainian outlets, describes Kravchenko as voluntarily writing a political resignation after a lengthy meeting, while other reporting (citing Office of the President insiders via LIGA.net) says the president personally asked him to submit it. Kravchenko himself had earlier said he would not resign unless asked by the president and parliament.

Sources also diverge on the extent of Kravchenko's personal involvement. NABU and SAPO investigation materials tie Kropyva closely to Kravchenko — prosecutors told the court Kropyva controlled and paid for renovations at Kravchenko's house in Kozyn, and on the recordings Kropyva (code-named 'Chancellor') addresses a 'boss' as 'Andriyovych', the same patronymic as Kravchenko. Kravchenko publicly denies involvement and says he has no procedural status in the case.

Reporting also differs on how the 4 September searches unfolded. Most Ukrainian-language outlets describe OGP staff resisting entry and NABU having to 'storm' the building with ladders, leaving one detective injured. One account, reflected in some international coverage, characterises the entry as a routine investigative action with no physical confrontation beyond a brief initial refusal of access.

Background

Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), were created more than a decade ago. Their independence became a political flashpoint in 2025, when nationwide protests erupted after President Zelensky attempted reforms that would have weakened them; G7 ambassadors warned the move could endanger Ukraine's EU integration, and Zelensky later reinstated the bodies' independence. Ukraine's EU candidate status remains conditional on a credible fight against corruption. Public concern over fraudulent phone-scam call centres — a problem complained about both by Ukrainians and, increasingly, by citizens of EU countries — was raised directly with Zelensky by Ukrainska Pravda in 2023. Ruslan Kravchenko was appointed Prosecutor General in June 2025. In the 'Carthage' investigation, the code names 'Chancellor' (Serhiy Kropyva) and 'Muza' (Yelyzaveta Ivakhnenko) are used for the central suspects, both of whom have been taken into custody with high bail.