Ukraine’s chief prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko has resigned over corruption allegations related to illegal call centres in the country.<\/p>\n
It follows a search of his offices over the weekend by Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators, who said they had identified a money-laundering scheme led by an official in Kravchenko’s office.<\/p>\n
In his resignation letter, Kravchenko said he did not want his position to be used as a “tool for political confrontation”, and referenced an earlier post in which he rejected the claims as “unsubstantiated”.<\/p>\n
Corruption scandals have plagued Kyiv throughout the war against Russia, with accusations levelled at several members of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s inner circle.<\/p>\n
According to Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sap), the network in Kravchenko’s office received money to protect call centres that carried out phone scams and “laundered millions in assets”.<\/p>\n
The money was then used to buy property, jewellery, and other valuables, according to Nabu.<\/p>\n
Kravchenko released a statement on Sunday evening dismissing the allegations as “completely unsubstantiated”, and denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
He tendered his resignation a day later, thanking Zelensky and the Ukrainian parliament for their “trust”. The Ukrainian president is yet to comment publicly on the resignation.<\/p>\n
Despite the creation of two Ukrainian anti-corruption bodies, Nabu and Sap, over a decade ago, corruption continues to be a significant problem in the country.<\/p>\n
In 2025, nationwide protests broke out after Zelensky tried to implement reforms that would curb the independence of Nabu and Sap.<\/p>\n
Kyiv’s European partners expressed alarm at the announcement, with ambassadors from the G7 group of nations warning it could endanger Ukraine’s integration into the European Union.<\/p>\n
Ukraine is an EU candidate country, a status it was granted on condition it mounted a credible fight against corruption.<\/p>\n
Zelensky reinstated the freedom of the two anti-corruption bodies as a result of the backlash, but questions have persisted over his commitment to anti-corruption reform.<\/p>\n
Last month, Nabu said it had uncovered a scheme to misappropriate more than $3m (\u00a32.2m) in Ukrainian currency to pay bail for a former energy minister accused of money laundering.<\/p>\n
A senior official in Zelensky’s office alleged to be involved was sacked.<\/p>\n
In an interview with the BBC last month, Ukraine’s former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said the president needed to be asked about his awareness of potential corruption among his closest team.<\/p>\n
“Let him answer this question… I believe that he’s ready for such questions. It’s his responsibility to tell us all whether he was aware of all that or not… I don’t want to make any assumptions,” he said.<\/p>\n
During his time in office, the 35-year-old was credited with heading a drive against corruption.<\/p>\n