Editor’s note: The story has been updated with the latest details. On September 6, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko denied any connection to a criminal organization that protected fraudulent call centers to launder millions of hryvnias, allegedly involving a senior official in Kravchenko’s office. The alleged criminal plot was uncovered by Ukraine’s two main anti-corruption bodies: the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Bureau. The Prosecutor General’s Office later confirmed that searches were conducted at Kravchenko’s office as part of the investigation. “I have no involvement in the cover-up of illegal call centers, I have not given any instructions to facilitate such activities and I have not used the powers of the Prosecutor General for this purpose,” Kravchenko wrote on Telegram on September 6. “About the employee of the Attorney General’s Office who is involved in the investigation, decisions have already been made. He has been suspended from his duties,” Kravchenko wrote. That employee is Serhii Kropyva, deputy head of the bureau’s international cooperation department, who was detained by NABU on September 4. On September 7, Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court remanded Kropyva in custody until November 2 and set his bail at 120 million hours ($2.7 million). He is suspected of laundering assets worth more than HR89 million ($2 million). dollars). According to investigators, the official created the group in mid-2025, recruiting active and associate prosecutors outside the Prosecutor General’s Office. The group allegedly received systematic bribes in exchange for allowing the fraudulent call centers to operate without interference, investigators said. ($450,000) Investigators believe Ivakhnenko helped launder funds for the criminal group allegedly led by Kropyva, who allegedly registered real estate in his and his family’s names. Kravchenko also announced that all staff working on cases involving illegal call centers will now “No position will protect anyone,” he said. However, Kravchenko himself has been implicated in the plot. “boss” who protected the group believed to have headed Kropyva, who had the patronymic “Andriiovych” and who previously headed the State Tax Service. Ruslan Andriiovych Kravchenko served as head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine from December 2024 to June 2025. A previous Telegram post from the Prosecutor General’s Office confirms that the investigation understands that the term “boss” refers to Kravchenko “During the process. investigation, full access was granted to my office and everything that needed to be inspected. No obstacles were put in the way. “I have nothing to hide,” Kravchenko said. The case comes amid a series of high-profile NABU investigations, including probes involving former Zelensky deputy chief of staff Iryna Mudra and former Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak, as well as the major Energoatom corruption case. The Prosecutor General heads the overall system of judicial prosecutions in Ukraine and is appointed directly by the president. The EU has made it a condition for Ukraine’s eventual membership in the block that kyiv “depoliticize the position of the Prosecutor General, including by making selection and dismissal procedures more objective, transparent and merit-based, taking into account European standards.” to address that concern was presented in parliament, but was rejected by the law enforcement committee on August 19.
