Ukraine's parliament dismisses Ruslan Kravchenko as Prosecutor General

Why it matters

The dismissal removes Ukraine's Prosecutor General at a moment when his office was already under NABU/SAPO scrutiny in the 'Carthage' operation, and after his last acts in office — signing a notice of suspicion against NABU director Semen Kryvonos and then leaving the country — sharply escalated a confrontation between the Prosecutor General's Office and Ukraine's anti-corruption institutions. With the country under martial law and dependent on external financing tied to anti-corruption reform progress, the episode has put the independence of NABU, SAPO and the High Anti-Corruption Court at the centre of public attention.

What happened

On 14 September 2026, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree suspending Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko from his post under Part 2 of Article 11 of the Law of Ukraine on the Legal Regime of Martial Law. That same day, Kravchenko publicly announced he had signed a notice of suspicion against NABU director Semen Kryvonos for allegedly forging official documents to obtain unlawful benefit in especially large amounts, and against a person close to SAPO head Oleksandr Klymenko. NABU and SAPO said the move was a continuation of a systemic attack on independent anti-corruption bodies, and the Office of the Prosecutor General stated that no suspicion had been formally served on Kryvonos and that the corresponding entries in the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations had been cancelled.

Kravchenko had already submitted his resignation letter on 7 September, a week earlier, after a meeting with the president. On the night of 14 September he left Ukraine; the Office of the Prosecutor General told Radio Liberty he had gone on a business trip to France, while Ukrainska Pravda sources said he had crossed the border at about 02:30 on a service vehicle for a business trip to Lithuania. He did not attend the parliamentary session.

On 15 September the Verkhovna Rada voted 317–0 to dismiss Kravchenko; no MP voted against or abstained. President Zelensky then signed decree No. 932/2026 formally dismissing him, and the decree was published on the Presidential website. It remained unknown who was performing the duties of Prosecutor General following the suspension and dismissal.

How Ukrainian sources describe it

All supplied sources are Ukrainian-language media and agency outlets, and they foreground the formal presidential and parliamentary acts: decree No. 932/2026, the 317-vote Rada approval, the timeline of the 7 September resignation letter and the 14 September suspension. Coverage centers the institutional clash — Kravchenko's moves against NABU/SAPO and his departure from Ukraine are given prominent placement, alongside the chronology of the 'Carthage' operation and the HACC remand decisions on Serhiy Kropyva and other figures in the case.

Where reporting differs

Sources differ on where Kravchenko travelled: he said he was on a business trip; the Office of the Prosecutor General told Radio Liberty the trip was to France, while Ukrainska Pravda sources said he crossed the border at about 02:30 on a service vehicle for a business trip to Lithuania. Sources also diverge on whether a notice of suspicion was served on NABU director Semen Kryvonos: reporting says Kravchenko signed one, but the Office of the Prosecutor General publicly denied that any notice was served, and Kryvonos himself said he had not received an official paper notice. Finally, sources differ on whether Kravchenko is personally implicated in the 'Carthage' case: SAPO head Oleksandr Klymenko declined to announce suspicions, but recordings published in the investigation feature an alias 'Kantsler' apparently addressing a boss by patronymic Andriyovych, which the investigation believes refers to Kravchenko, and Kryvonos publicly called Kravchenko the 'executor' of the attack on anti-corruption bodies; Kravchenko denies any connection.

Background

Kravchenko was appointed Prosecutor General on 17 June 2025. The 'Carthage' operation by NABU and SAPO targeted an alleged criminal organization within the Office of the Prosecutor General accused of extorting bribes from fraudulent call centres and laundering the proceeds. The lead suspect identified was Serhiy Kropyva, deputy head of the OGP Department of International Legal Cooperation. On 6 September the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) remanded Kropyva in custody with alternative bail of UAH 120 million; subsequent figures in the case — Yelyzaveta Ivakhnenko (bail UAH 20 million), Serhiy Kutsyi (bail UAH 3 million) and Oleksandr Dydych — were also taken into custody.