Sacked Prosecutor General Kravchenko, Who Left Ukraine, Resigns from Prosecution Service
Former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, who left the country after his dismissal and never returned, has resigned from the prosecution service. His resignation was accepted and he was formally dismissed on 21 September.
Former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko submitted his resignation from the prosecution service on 21 September, and it was immediately accepted, according to a comment from Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG) spokeswoman Mariana Haiovska.
After being removed as prosecutor general, Kravchenko had retained the status of a prosecutor at the OPG under Ukraine's law on the prosecutor's office. However, once his official trip abroad concluded, he did not return to resume his duties. Under these circumstances, his resignation gave the OPG legal grounds to dismiss him as quickly as possible.
The acting prosecutor general signed the corresponding dismissal order on Monday. Sources said that as of 21 September, Kravchenko had not crossed back into Ukraine. The OPG noted that other dismissal procedures would have required a lengthy review by the Prosecutors' Qualification and Disciplinary Commission, during which he would have formally remained a prosecutor — so the office chose to act on his resignation instead.
Background
Kravchenko resigned as prosecutor general on 7 September amid an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) into alleged protection of fraudulent call centres. On 14 September, he said he had signed a notice of suspicion against NABU director Semen Kryvonos, accusing NABU and SAPO of seizing case materials during searches tied to Operation Carthage targeting anti-corruption agency employees.
According to Ukrainska Pravda's law enforcement sources, Kravchenko left Ukraine in an official vehicle on the night of 13-14 September, describing it as an official trip. An order dated 13 September stated he traveled to Paris for five days to attend PACE hearings on Ukrainian children, though he was not listed among the event's speakers.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged parliament to support Kravchenko's removal and signed a decree suspending him on 14 September; the Verkhovna Rada later voted to dismiss him. His official trip ended on 18 September, but he did not return to work.
