Ukraine's anti-corruption chief dismisses 'nonsense' case files as prosecutor general flees, is fired

The power struggle between Ukraine's anti-corruption institutions and the Prosecutor General's Office reached a dramatic climax this week, with the dismissal of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko by presidential decree on 15 September, hours after he launched a questionable case against the head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU).

Semen Kryvonos, NABU's director, has publicly ridiculed the case files released by Kravchenko, calling them "nonsense" and refusing to comment on what he described as "fabricated" allegations. During a press conference on 14 September, Kryvonos insisted that he had not been formally served with any notice of suspicion, despite the entry of such a notice in the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations Source: Ukrainska Pravda.

"I have not seen a paper document notifying me of suspicion. No one has served it on me, no one has brought it to NABU or the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office," Kryvonos said, adding that he would not comment on "Telegram notices of suspicion" Source: Ukrainska Pravda.

Kravchenko, who had submitted his resignation on 7 September amid a NABU investigation into the "protection" of scam call centres, posted a video on 14 September titled "Episode 1. Part One" featuring case files that alleged Kryvonos was involved in voter bribery and the fictitious adoption of a child to evade liability in court Source: Ukrainska Pravda. The timing – just hours before Kravchenko's dismissal – suggests a last-ditch effort to discredit his institutional adversary.

Operation Carthage under siege

The confrontation is unfolding against the backdrop of Operation Carthage, a NABU and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) investigation into a criminal organisation allegedly protected by Kravchenko. At a joint briefing on 14 September, Kryvonos and SAPO head Oleksandr Klymenko revealed that the operation is ongoing but facing "fierce obstruction" Source: Ukrainska Pravda.

"A pre-trial investigation is ongoing. It is quite active, but any comments now about what we plan to do next will be harmful. Because this criminal proceeding is being fiercely obstructed," Kryvonos said Source: Ukrainska Pravda.

The obstruction appears systematic. According to Kryvonos, suspects in the case were aware of upcoming searches in advance because NABU vehicles were being tracked via the Safe City surveillance system. Several weeks ago, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) attempted to gain access to the High Anti-Corruption Court's D-3 computer system logs to see which motions were being filed. The state company Information Systems also approached the High Council of Justice, questioning whether detectives could restrict access to search warrants – an issue that had never arisen before Source: Ukrainska Pravda.

"All of this appears to be an attempt to obstruct the work of NABU and SAPO by gaining access to sensitive information about planned investigative actions," Kryvonos said Source: Ukrainska Pravda.

A prosecutor general's exit

The circumstances of Kravchenko's departure raise further questions. According to an investigation by Ukrainska Pravda's Mykhailo Tkach, Kravchenko signed a statement temporarily waiving his personal state protection at 01:00 on 14 September – approximately two hours after the notice of suspicion against Kryvonos was entered in the pre-trial register Source: Ukrainska Pravda.

Kravchenko crossed the border into Poland through the Shehyni crossing at 02:30, just three hours after the suspicion entry and an hour and a half after giving up his protection. His wife had left a day earlier, crossing into Moldova and then Romania Source: Ukrainska Pravda.

"The Prosecutor General's statement on temporarily waiving personal state protection is dated 01:00 on 14 September," Tkach wrote, noting that this suggests Kravchenko understood he was leaving the country not on an ordinary business trip, since having protection would have made it easier to establish his whereabouts Source: Ukrainska Pravda.

The article also notes that information about Kravchenko's planned departure had been circulating in the highest government offices for days before he left Source: Ukrainska Pravda.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the decree dismissing Kravchenko on 15 September Source: Ukrainska Pravda.

What this means

This episode is a stark reminder of the resistance that Ukraine's anti-corruption institutions face from within the state apparatus itself. The attempt to charge Kryvonos with fabricated offences, the surveillance of NABU vehicles, and the SBU's interest in court logs all point to a coordinated effort to blunt the agency's effectiveness. For Ukraine's international partners, the question is whether the dismissal of Kravchenko will lead to a genuine reset of the Prosecutor General's Office – or whether the institutional rot runs deeper. For now, Kryvonos remains in place, and Operation Carthage continues, albeit under siege.