Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the Prosecutor General, Ruslan Kravchenko, whose office is accused of providing cover for call centers engaged in fraud in exchange for bribes.
Kravchenko, who had announced in early September that he would step down from the position—though he denies the charges against him—said today that he is “on a mission abroad.” “I intend to brief our international partners on the actual situation within the anti-corruption agencies, about the signs of an unchecked concentration of influence on their part and the risks that such a practice entails,” he added in a video posted on his Telegram channel.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Kravchenko also announced that he had filed a lawsuit against the director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), Semion Kryvonos, accusing him of “forgery of official documents.”
President Zelenskyy, for his part, stated—also on Telegram—that “the Prosecutor General has only one option: dismissal,” calling on lawmakers to approve this decision “without delay.” Immediately afterward, the decree dismissing Ruslan Kravchenko was posted on the Ukrainian Presidency’s website.
In early September, NABU conducted searches at the Prosecutor General’s Office and announced that it had uncovered a network that was receiving money to protect call centers thatwere carrying out telephone scams and “laundering assets worth millions.” The money from the bribes was used to purchase real estate, jewelry, and other high-value items.
According to the specialized organization “Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime” (GI-TOC), approximately 60,000 people are employed in fraud-perpetrating call centers in Ukraine —roughly two-thirds of the country’s banking sector workforce. These scams can generate revenues of up to one billion dollars a month.
Corruption has been an endemic problem in Ukraine for many years. Following the Russian invasion, numerous scandals came to light, even within the military.
In 2025, Zelenskyy attempted to place NABU under the Attorney General, thereby stripping the agency of its independence, but he was forced to back down following backlash from both Ukrainian society and Kyiv’s Western allies.
Source: KYPE
