Ukraine's first deputy prosecutor general resigns amid 'Operation Carthage' scandal
First Deputy Prosecutor General Mariya Vdovychenko has left the Office of the Prosecutor General, days after Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko also submitted his resignation. Both departures follow NABU and SAPO's 'Operation Carthage,' which exposed an alleged criminal organization within the prosecution service accused of protecting fraudulent call centers.
Key points
- Vdovychenko's resignation was confirmed on September 9 by the Office of the Prosecutor General; September 8 was her last working day.
- She was dismissed from the prosecutor's office, with the corresponding order signed; she is no longer listed on the OPG website.
- Vdovychenko's name reportedly appears in 'Operation Carthage' materials; searches at her premises allegedly yielded materials suggesting surveillance of anti-corruption officials.
- Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko submitted his resignation on September 7; per Liga.net sources, President Zelensky asked him to resign.
- On September 4, NABU and SAPO announced the exposure of a criminal organization led by a senior OPG official that allegedly took bribes from fraudulent call centers.
- On September 6, HACC ordered the detention of Serhiy Kropyva, deputy head of the OPG's International Cooperation Department, with alternative bail of UAH 120 million; his girlfriend and driver were also detained.
- NABU notified five persons of suspicion under Articles 255 (criminal organization) and 209 (money laundering) of Ukraine's Criminal Code, carrying up to 15 years' imprisonment.
Why it matters
The removal of Ukraine's first deputy prosecutor general follows the resignation of the prosecutor general himself, leaving the leadership of the prosecution service in simultaneous transition amid a major anti-corruption scandal. Searches at Vdovychenko reportedly yielded materials suggesting surveillance of anti-corruption officials — allegations that, if verified, would represent a serious attack on independent anti-corruption bodies. The case has exposed alleged systemic corruption at senior levels of the prosecution service, with investigators accusing officials of taking bribes to protect fraudulent call centers defrauding Ukrainian and foreign citizens. Detentions, court-ordered bails, and personnel purges show NABU, SAPO and HACC actively pursuing senior figures inside the Office of the Prosecutor General itself.
What happened
On September 9, the Office of the Prosecutor General confirmed that First Deputy Prosecutor General Mariya Vdovychenko had left the office; September 8 was her last working day. She was dismissed from her position and from the prosecutor's office, with the corresponding order already signed, and her name has been removed from the leadership section of the OPG website. Vdovychenko's departure came two days after Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko submitted his resignation on September 7, which Liga.net sources say was at President Zelensky's request. Both moves followed NABU and SAPO's September 4 announcement of 'Operation Carthage,' which exposed a criminal organization allegedly created in mid-2025 by a senior OPG division head that systematically received bribes from fraudulent call centers and laundered the proceeds. On September 6, the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) ordered the detention of Serhiy Kropyva, deputy head of the OPG's Department of International Cooperation, with alternative bail of UAH 120 million; the same court detained his girlfriend Yelyzaveta Ivakhnenko (alternative bail UAH 20 million) and his driver Serhiy Kutsyi (alternative bail UAH 3 million). NABU notified five persons of suspicion under Articles 255 (criminal organization) and 209 (money laundering) of Ukraine's Criminal Code, offenses carrying up to 15 years' imprisonment. Searches were also conducted at Kravchenko, Vdovychenko, and Odesa OVA head Oleh Kiper; the OPG publicly questioned the legality of NABU's nighttime searches and its detectives' access to other criminal proceedings. Kravchenko denied any connection to the call center scheme, suspended the implicated OPG employee, ordered their dismissal, and initiated audits and polygraph screenings of relevant staff. Viktoriya Dydych, Kropyva's sister, and her husband Oleksandr Dydych — both top officials of the Cherkasy Regional Prosecutor's Office — were dismissed after their names reportedly appeared in NABU/SAP recordings from the operation.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All eight articles in the supplied material come from Ukrainian-language sources. They consistently frame the departures as part of a single institutional collapse at the Office of the Prosecutor General, tying Vdovychenko's resignation directly to 'Operation Carthage' and Kravchenko's resignation. Coverage emphasizes the anti-corruption narrative, presenting NABU and SAPO as the actors exposing high-level prosecutorial corruption and highlighting the broader personnel fallout — Kropyva, the Dydychs, Kutsyi, Ivakhnenko. Headlines use terms like 'звільнилася' (resigned/left) and 'написала заяву про відставку' (submitted a resignation letter) for Vdovychenko while foregrounding the NABU searches and 'Карфаген.' The OPG's public call for a legal assessment of NABU's nighttime searches is reported as an institutional counter-stance, alongside Kravchenko's denial and personnel measures as his formal response to the allegations.
Where reporting differs
Whether Vdovychenko voluntarily resigned or was dismissed: some facts describe her as having submitted a resignation letter, while a separate fact records her as dismissed with the order already signed, and she is no longer listed on the OPG website. The framing in coverage varies between voluntary departure and formal dismissal. Whether Kravchenko's resignation was voluntary or requested by the president: his September 7 submission is confirmed, but Liga.net sources report that President Zelensky asked him to resign. Whether Vdovychenko is formally implicated in 'Operation Carthage': her name reportedly appears in the case materials and searches were conducted at her premises, but no fact in the input records a formal notification of suspicion against her, leaving her exact legal status in the investigation ambiguous.
Background
'Operation Carthage,' announced on September 4 by NABU and SAPO, exposed a criminal organization allegedly created in mid-2025 by a head of a division within the Office of the Prosecutor General. The group is accused of systematically receiving bribes from fraudulent call centers that defrauded Ukrainian and foreign citizens and laundering the proceeds. Kropyva, deputy head of the International Cooperation Department, has been identified as the alleged organizer. HACC ordered his detention on September 6 with alternative bail of UAH 120 million; his girlfriend and driver were also detained. NABU notified five persons of suspicion under Articles 255 and 209 of Ukraine's Criminal Code, carrying up to 15 years' imprisonment. Searches extended to Prosecutor General Kravchenko, his deputy Vdovychenko, and Odesa OVA head Oleh Kiper, prompting the OPG to publicly question the legality of the nighttime searches and detectives' access to other proceedings. Kravchenko denied involvement, suspended the implicated OPG employee, and ordered audits and polygraph screenings. Kropyva's sister and her husband were dismissed from the Cherkasy Regional Prosecutor's Office, and Bihus.Info reported that a roughly 300 sq.m. house in Kozyn possibly used by Kravchenko was registered in early 2026 to a 73-year-old woman not listed among his declared relatives.