Ukraine's prosecutor general resigns over corruption allegations tied to illegal call centres
Ukraine's prosecutor general, Ruslan Kravchenko, has resigned after anti-corruption investigators searched his offices over a money-laundering scheme allegedly run by an official in his office and linked to illegal call centres. Kravchenko denies wrongdoing, calling the allegations "completely unsubstantiated."
Key points
- Ukraine's prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko has resigned amid corruption allegations tied to illegal call centres.
- Anti-corruption investigators searched Kravchenko's offices over the weekend.
- Nabu and Sap said they had identified a money-laundering scheme led by an official in Kravchenko's office.
- Kravchenko said in his resignation letter that he did not want his position to be "a tool for political confrontation."
- Kravchenko denied the allegations as "completely unsubstantiated" in a Sunday evening statement.
- Kravchenko tendered his resignation a day later, thanking Zelensky and the Ukrainian parliament for their "trust."
- President Zelensky had not publicly commented on the resignation as of the article's reporting.
Why it matters
The resignation of a wartime prosecutor general under corruption pressure is a rare and politically charged event. It also places Nabu and Sap — Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies at the centre of the 2025 protests over their independence — back in the spotlight, and adds to a string of corruption-linked dismissals among senior Ukrainian officials and Zelensky's circle.
What happened
Ukraine's prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko resigned after anti-corruption investigators searched his offices over the weekend over alleged corruption linked to illegal call centres. Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (Sap) said they had identified a money-laundering scheme led by an official in Kravchenko's office. According to the two bodies, the network received money to protect call centres that carried out phone scams and laundered millions in assets; Nabu said the proceeds were used to buy property, jewellery and other valuables. In a statement released on Sunday evening, Kravchenko called the allegations "completely unsubstantiated" and denied wrongdoing. A day later he tendered his resignation, saying in his letter that he did not want his position to be "a tool for political confrontation" and thanking President Zelensky and parliament for their trust. Zelensky had not publicly commented on the resignation as of the article's reporting.
How international sources describe it
Both articles supplied for this story come from non-Ukrainian outlets — Azerbaijan's APA agency and the UK's BBC News. They frame the event similarly: a corruption scandal driving the resignation of Ukraine's top prosecutor. The BBC piece highlights the illegal-call-centre dimension of the allegations and notes that Zelensky had not publicly commented at the time of reporting.
Background
Nabu and Sap were created more than a decade ago as Ukraine's dedicated anti-corruption institutions. In 2025, nationwide protests erupted after President Zelensky moved to curb their independence; ambassadors from the G7 group of nations warned the reform could jeopardise Ukraine's EU integration, and Zelensky subsequently reversed course. The previous month, Nabu said it had uncovered a scheme to misappropriate more than $3 million in Ukrainian currency to post bail for a former energy minister accused of money laundering, and a senior official in Zelensky's office allegedly involved was sacked. Former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov was dismissed in mid-July, reportedly after a falling-out with the head of Ukraine's armed forces; in a BBC interview Fedorov said he had no evidence that Zelensky is personally involved in corruption.