Ukraine's Prosecutor General Leaves for Paris for 5 Days as Zelensky Seeks His Dismissal
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko departed for a five-day trip to Paris under a September 13 order, just as President Zelensky urges parliament to urgently approve his removal from office.
Ukraine's Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko has traveled by car to Paris for a five-day business trip to take part in a hearing of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly's (PACE) parliamentary network on Ukrainian children in the context of international accountability. This is according to Kravchenko's order dated September 13, seen by Ukrainska Pravda, the contents of which were also confirmed by the Prosecutor General's Office.
According to the document, Kravchenko cites Article 9 of Ukraine's Law on the Prosecutor's Office as the basis for the trip. The assignment is set for five days starting September 13, with all expenses covered by the organizers.
Background
The trip comes amid a broader controversy: Kravchenko had submitted his resignation as prosecutor general in connection with an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) into alleged protection schemes for call centers. Separately, on September 14, the prosecutor general announced he had signed a notice of suspicion against NABU Director Semen Kryvonos, accusing NABU and SAPO of seizing case materials against their own employees during searches conducted as part of operation "Carthage" in order to halt procedural decisions in those cases.
Sources within law enforcement told Ukrainska Pravda that Kravchenko left the country by official car overnight on September 14. The prosecutor general himself publicly announced he had gone on a business trip.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has appealed to parliament to urgently support the prosecutor general's dismissal. Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk confirmed that Zelensky's submission calling for Kravchenko's removal had been received by parliament, and the Rada's Law Enforcement Committee has already backed the submission.
