The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine categorically denied reports that the director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, Semen Krivonos, had been notified of suspicion in the course of a criminal case initiated by the dismissed Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko. According to the OPG, the corresponding entries on notification of suspicion in the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations were cancelled, and, per the agency's version, the legal grounds for such a notification were absent. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine on September 15, 2026, citing an official comment from the prosecutor's office.
The Office of the Prosecutor General's position: "the information is not true"
The OPG emphasized that, within the relevant criminal case, no person — including the head of the anti-corruption body — had been notified of suspicion in the manner prescribed by the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. The agency stated that the claims about an allegedly declared suspicion "were devoid of legal meaning," since the procedural grounds for notification were absent. Moreover, the prosecutor's office reported that the corresponding entries in the ERDR on notification of suspicion had been cancelled, which, in effect, deprives Kravchenko's statement of procedural force.
Kravchenko's version: postal receipts and "political interference"
The dismissed Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko issued a sharp rebuttal of the OPG's position in his Telegram channel. According to him, People's Deputy Oleksandr Bakumov "visited the leadership of the State Bureau of Investigation and the Office of the Prosecutor General demanding the cancellation of the notification of suspicion to Semen Krivonos at all costs." Kravchenko attached photographs of postal receipts to his message, on which, he claimed, it can be seen that the notification of suspicion had been sent to the recipient. "If the notification of suspicion was duly sent and this is confirmed by the corresponding postal receipts, any attempt to cancel it or remove the information from the ERDR will bear the hallmarks of political and unlawful interference," Kravchenko wrote. He also added that "no political decision is capable of cancelling evidence" and does not relieve the NABU director of the obligation to answer "specific questions regarding his own integrity."
Chronology of the scandal: from signing the suspicion to the dismissal
On Monday, September 14, 2026, in the morning, Ruslan Kravchenko published a video address in which he announced the signing of a suspicion against NABU director Semen Krivonos. According to him, it concerned "forging documents to obtain improper benefit and fictitious adoption." In addition, Kravchenko announced a second suspicion concerning, he claimed, a person from the entourage of the head of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, Oleksandr Klymenko — for "influencing VAКС judges and aiding evasion of mobilization." Immediately after publishing the video, Kravchenko left Ukraine through a border crossing point on the border with Poland, calling his trip a "foreign business trip." As a result, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decided to dismiss Kravchenko from the post of Prosecutor General.
Contradictory data
There is a direct and fundamental contradiction between the positions of the two sides. On the one hand, the OPG asserts that the notification of suspicion was not sent, the legal grounds for it were absent, and the entries in the ERDR were cancelled. On the other hand, Kravchenko insists that the suspicion was duly signed and sent, supporting his words with photographs of postal receipts. The key question, which at present remains without public resolution: was the postal shipment actually delivered to the recipient, and if so — why were the entries about it removed from the ERDR? The OPG explains the cancellation of the entries by the absence of legal grounds, while Kravchenko interprets this as "political and unlawful interference." Neither side has provided, as of the time of publication, the full procedural document — the text of the suspicion itself — which makes independent verification impossible.
Context and consequences
The scandal unfolds against the backdrop of a systemic confrontation between anti-corruption structures and the prosecutor's office. The dismissal of Kravchenko from the post of Prosecutor General by President Zelenskyy effectively deprives him of procedural powers; however, Kravchenko himself continues to publicly insist on the legitimacy of his decisions. The question of whether the entry in the ERDR will be restored or, conversely, an internal investigation will be conducted on the fact of possible entry of false data remains open. For NABU director Krivonos, the situation means that formally the suspicion against him does not exist; however, the public resonance and statements by the dismissed Prosecutor General create additional informational pressure.
