Suspect in NABU "Carthage" case stayed formally employed at Prosecutor General's Office for weeks after remand
Serhiy Kropyva, a suspect in the NABU and SAP "Carthage" operation targeting an alleged criminal organisation that protected fraudulent call-centres, remained formally on the staff of Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General for weeks after being remanded into custody. Then-Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko had publicly said on 6 September that Kropyva was suspended and that he had ordered a dismissal; an official OGP response to an information request stated that no such order had been registered. Only on 18 September, after Kravchenko himself had been suspended and dismissed, did acting Prosecutor General Anton Kovalsky reorganise the relevant department and abolish Kropyva's post.
Key points
- On 4 September, NABU and SAP announced the "Carthage" operation exposing an alleged criminal organisation tied to fraudulent call-centres.
- On 6 September, the High Anti-Corruption Court (VAKS) remanded Kropyva in custody until 2 November, with an alternative bail of 120 million hryvnias; prosecutors had requested 200 million.
- On 6 September, then-Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko publicly said Kropyva had been suspended and that he had ordered his dismissal prepared.
- On 8 September, the OGP General Inspectorate filed a disciplinary complaint with the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors (KDCP) on Kropyva; the KDCP opened disciplinary proceedings on 10 September.
- As of 17 September, Kropyva had not been suspended or dismissed, and driver Serhiy Kutsiy, another suspect in the case, similarly remained employed.
- On 18 September, acting Prosecutor General Anton Kovalsky reorganised the Department of International Cooperation, abolishing the post Kropyva held, and dismissed Kutsiy.
Why it matters
The episode exposes a gap between the Prosecutor General's public assurances about disciplining a senior suspect in a major corruption case and the administrative record of his office. It raises broader questions about the ability of Ukraine's chief law-enforcement body to act quickly against its own employees implicated in corruption. The contradiction between Kravchenko's statements and the OGP's documents became a focal point in the political fallout that led to the President suspending Kravchenko and the Verkhovna Rada dismissing him. The underlying allegations also describe a senior OGP official allegedly heading an organisation that systematically took payment to protect fraudulent call-centres, with monthly "subscriptions" of $20,000–$24,000 reported by sources.
What happened
On 4 September, NABU and SAP announced the "Carthage" operation, exposing an alleged criminal organisation that protected fraudulent call-centres in exchange for monthly payments. On 6 September, the High Anti-Corruption Court (VAKS) remanded Serhiy Kropyva, deputy head of the OGP's Department of International Cooperation, in custody until 2 November, with an alternative bail of 120 million hryvnias after prosecutors asked for 200 million. The same day, then-Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko publicly said Kropyva had been suspended and that he had ordered a dismissal prepared. An OGP response to a public information request later stated that no such suspension or dismissal order had been registered. On 7 September, Kravchenko announced his resignation. On 8 September, the OGP General Inspectorate filed a disciplinary complaint with the KDCP seeking Kropyva's suspension; the KDCP opened disciplinary proceedings on 10 September. On 14 September, President Volodymyr Zelensky suspended Kravchenko from office; on 15 September, the Verkhovna Rada accepted his dismissal with 317 votes, and Zelensky signed the dismissal order. As of 17 September, Kropyva formally remained an OGP employee, as did driver Serhiy Kutsiy, another suspect in the case. On 18 September, acting Prosecutor General Anton Kovalsky reorganised the Department of International Cooperation, abolishing the post Kropyva held, and dismissed Kutsiy.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All supplied sources are Ukrainian-language outlets covering a domestic anti-corruption investigation. Coverage focuses on the institutional response of the OGP itself, drawing on internal documents, official replies to information requests, and personnel decisions. Reporters place significant weight on the contradiction between Kravchenko's public assurances of suspension and the OGP's documented lack of any such order, presenting it as a credibility issue for the former Prosecutor General. They give detailed attention to the procedural steps — the KDCP complaint, the departmental reorganisation, the acting Prosecutor General's letters — that explain why Kropyva remained formally employed. Kropyva's courtroom claim of an official trip to Lviv is treated sceptically and paired with rebuttals from the Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office and the SAP prosecutor. The narrative ties the case to political consequences for Kravchenko: reports of his departure from Ukraine, the presidential suspension order, and the parliamentary dismissal vote.
Where reporting differs
Kravchenko's 6 September public statement that Kropyva had been suspended and that he had ordered his dismissal directly contradicts the OGP's subsequent official response, which said no order registering the suspension or dismissal had been issued. In court, Kropyva said he had been on an official business trip in Lviv and had met the head of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office surnamed Meret; the Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office and the SAP prosecutor in court both denied any such meeting or communications, and the investigation says Kropyva was in Lviv on holiday with his common-law wife Yelyzaveta Ivakhnenko. There are also conflicting accounts about driver Serhiy Kutsiy's dismissal: as of 17 September the OGP said no dismissal order for him had been registered, but a later report says he was dismissed by order of the acting Prosecutor General on 18 September.
Background
On 4 September, NABU and SAP announced the "Carthage" operation exposing an alleged criminal organisation tied to fraudulent call-centres. On 6 September, VAKS remanded Kropyva in custody until 2 November with an alternative bail of 120 million hryvnias; prosecutors had asked for 200 million. Under Ukrainian law, a sitting prosecutor cannot be suspended or dismissed solely on the basis of a suspicion or a remand decision; suspension requires either an investigating judge's ruling within criminal proceedings or a KDCP decision within disciplinary proceedings. On 7 September, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko announced his resignation amid the corruption allegations. On 14 September, President Zelensky suspended Kravchenko, and on 15 September the Verkhovna Rada accepted his dismissal with 317 votes; that day Kravchenko was reported to have crossed the Ukrainian border. Acting Prosecutor General Anton Kovalsky took over the OGP and pushed for KDCP action and departmental restructuring.