MOSCOW, September 14. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky has submitted a proposal to the Verkhovna Rada to dismiss Ruslan Kravchenko from his post as Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Zelensky’s communications adviser Dmitry Litvin told reporters.
The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Law Enforcement Activities unanimously voted to dismiss Kravchenko, Ukrainian parliamentarian Yaroslav Zheleznyak said on Telegram.
TASS has compiled the key facts about the situation.
Indictments
- Resigned Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said on Telegram that he had moved to indict director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) Semyon Krivonos.
- He also called on Krivonos and head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) Alexander Klimenko to resign.
- Kravchenko said that he suspects Krivonos "of forging official documents, receiving unlawful benefits on an especially large scale, and fictitious adoption to artificially create grounds for avoiding liability in court."
- Kravchenko also said he had indicted a person "close to the SAP head" for influencing the judges of the anti-corruption court, offering them improper benefits, and assisting in evading mobilization, but did not name the accused.
- According to Kravchenko, he had previously been "politically pressured" to refrain from making these decisions, including by Zelensky and the anti-corruption agencies themselves in exchange for personal guarantees of immunity.
- Kravchenko claims that the NABU and SAP "Carthage" operation was not aimed solely at him; its main goal was allegedly to gain access to the case materials that were being prepared against the heads and employees of anti-corruption bodies.
- Kravchenko accused NABU and SAP of attempting to usurp power and called Ukraine "a country of distorted mirrors".
- He said that he is resigning from his position but hopes that the work against anti-corruption structures will continue.
- Kravchenko had also moved to indict Klimenko’s wife, Verkhovna Rada deputy Alexey Goncharenko (listed in Russia as a terrorist and extremist) said on Telegram.
NABU’s response
- The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine said it had not been informed of the charges against Krivonos that Kravchenko mentioned, and views his words as a continuation of a systemic attack on its work.
- NABU also denied Kravchenko’s assertions that materials from criminal proceedings in which employees of the anti-corruption agencies were suspects had been seized during searches in the prosecutor general’s office.
- The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine planned to publish new recordings featuring Kravchenko this week and to file charges against him, Goncharenko said.
Video release
- Kravchenko posted the first of a series of videos featuring his accusations against Krivonos on Telegram.
- The video is made in the style of "Mindich’s films" publications, which NABU uses to accompany its own investigations.
- They concern the criminal case against Krivonos for bribing students to vote for Yulia Tymoshenko’s Bloc in 2009.
- According to Kravchenko, to qualify for amnesty and avoid accountability, Krivonos faked adopting a child.
- The video features footage of the child’s mother being interrogated, where she describes the circumstances of the fictitious adoption.
- The Ukrainian media has previously reported on the story around students being bribed.
- Krivonos gave explanations in connection with it to a commission that considered his appointment to the post of NABU head.
Zelensky's position
- Zelensky said on Telegram that he supports Kravchenko.
- At the same time, as the publication Strana notes, Zelensky is only pretending to support the dismissal of the prosecutor general, a man who is loyal to him and was preparing an attack on NABU and SAP on the orders of the presidential administration.
- Zelensky submitted a proposal to the Verkhovna Rada to dismiss Kravchenko from the post of Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Litvin later told journalists.
- Prior to that, Ukrainian media published a photograph of the document submitted by Zelensky regarding Kravchenko’s dismissal.
- Zelensky's draft resolution on Kravchenko’s dismissal was later published on the website of the Verkhovna Rada.
Voting in the Rada
- The Verkhovna Rada will consider Kravchenko’s resignation on September 15, said David Arakhamia, head of the ruling party "Servant of the People" faction, on Telegram.
- The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Law Enforcement Issues unanimously supported Kravchenko’s resignation, Ukrainian parliamentarian Yaroslav Zheleznyak said on Telegram.
According to him, 17 committee members voted for with no votes against or abstentions.
Kravchenko takes off abroad
- The Prosecutor General has left the country, former adviser to the defense minister Sergey Sternenko wrote on Telegram.
- Later, Kravchenko said on Telegram that he was on a business trip abroad, without revealing where he was.
- Kravchenko crossed the border in an official car in the dead of night, publication Ukrainskaya Pravda quoted sources in law enforcement agencies as saying.
- According to preliminary data, Kravchenko cited a business trip to Lithuania as the reason for his departure.
- The publication states that he could only have left for such a trip with Zelensky’s consent.
- Kravchenko’s wife also left Ukraine, journalist Mikhail Tkach from Ukrainskaya Pravda reported.
- Kravchenko left for Paris for five days to participate in the PACE hearings on Ukrainian children, Ukrainskaya Pravda quoted a copy of the prosecutor general’s order dated September 13 and a statement from his office.
- According to the document, Kravchenko left by car "for the purpose of participating in the hearing of the PACE Parliamentary Session entitled ‘Parliamentary Activities on Ukrainian Children in the Context of International Responsibility,’ in accordance with Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Prosecutor’s Office.’"
- The business trip is set to last five days (starting from September 13).
- It was also reported that all expenses are covered by the organizers.
- The Anti-Corruption Center said on Telegram the PACE meeting will take place on September 16, and, according to the Council of Europe’s website, the event's schedule does not have Kravchuk speaking.
- There's no information about who is currently acting as the prosecutor general in place of Kravchuk, Zheleznyak said on Telegram.
- According to him, no one from the Prosecutor General’s office attended the meeting of the parliament’s law enforcement committee, which is considering Kravchuk’s dismissal.
Possible successor
- Head of the Verkhovna Rada’s financial committee Danila Getmantsev is being considered for the position of Prosecutor General, Ukrainskaya Pravda quoted political sources as saying.
- According to the report, Getmantsev is close to Arakhamia.
- Goncharenko wrote on Telegram that "the information about Getmantsev being considered for the position of Prosecutor General is a lie and nonsense."
- Getmantsev denied the information on Telegram.
New NABU operation and confrontation with Zelensky
- Ukrainian media have long been saying that Zelensky is preparing retaliatory actions against NABU and SAP, which have uncovered corruption schemes in his inner circle.
- SAP head Klimenko noted that attempts to put pressure on anti-corruption bodies did not stop "for a single minute," and that for the Security Service this became one of the main tasks.
- On September 4, NABU and SAP announced a new operation called "Carthage" to expose a criminal organization led by the deputy head of one of the structural units of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
- According to the investigation, the organization was engaged in "the protection" of fraudulent call centers and the legalization of property.
- Searches were conducted at the offices of Kravchenko, his first deputy, and other employees of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
- Amid the scandal, Kravchenko stated that he did not intend to resign voluntarily, but was ready to leave on the condition that Zelensky or the Rada initiated the resignation.
- However, as early as September 7, after a meeting with Zelensky, Kravchenko said he had submitted his resignation.
