Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sent to the Verkhovna Rada a proposal to dismiss Ruslan Kravchenko from the post of Prosecutor General. According to RBC-Ukraine, the fact that the document had been received by parliament was confirmed to journalists by the president's communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn. He said the head of state signed the proposal on Monday, September 14. The text of the document, citing paragraph 25 of Part One of Article 85, paragraph 11 of Part One of Article 106, and Part Three of Article 131¹ of the Constitution of Ukraine, has the president propose that the Rada grant consent to dismiss R. Kravchenko from the post of Prosecutor General.

Procedure in parliament

The document is to be presented at the plenary session of parliament by Halyna Mykhaylyuk, the president's representative in the Verkhovna Rada. Davyd Arakhamia, leader of the Servant of the People faction, confirmed that Zelensky's proposal to dismiss the Prosecutor General had been received by parliament. According to him, within the next few hours the document will be considered by the relevant committee, and the following day — on September 15 — it will be put to the floor of the plenary chamber. Thus, the decision on the dismissal is expected to be adopted on an expedited basis within the next 24 hours.

Conflict with NABU and the SAP

The president's initiative came against the backdrop of a sharp escalation in the confrontation between the Prosecutor General and the anti-corruption agencies. On September 14, Ruslan Kravchenko published a video statement in which he declared that he had signed an indictment against NABU Director Semen Kryvonos and a person close to the head of the SAP, Oleksandr Klymenko, and called on the heads of both agencies to resign. According to RBC-Ukraine sources in the president's entourage, this initiative was Kravchenko's personal, uncoordinated "self-directed action." In response, Volodymyr Zelensky called on the Verkhovna Rada to dismiss the Prosecutor General without delay, stating that he had "only one way" out.

Contradictory accounts

The parties' versions of the key episodes of the conflict diverge significantly. Kravchenko claims he signed the indictment against the NABU Director, yet NABU itself stated that at the time of his statement, no indictment had been officially served to Semen Kryvonos. The Anti-Corruption Bureau also refuted the Prosecutor General's words about the seizure of criminal proceedings and about any proposals concerning "immunity." Thus, Kravchenko's public statement about signing the indictment and about the alleged actions taken against NABU is not corroborated by the agency, creating a direct contradiction between the Prosecutor General's position and NABU's position.

Context: Operation "Carthage" and the Prosecutor General's departure

A reminder of the background is important for understanding the scale of the crisis. On September 7, Kravchenko submitted his resignation following the NABU and SAP special operation "Carthage," within the framework of which possible crimes involving officials of the Office of the Prosecutor General are under investigation. According to investigators, a criminal organization engaged in "protecting" fraudulent call centers was exposed; law enforcement officers carried out searches at OPG premises. RBC-Ukraine also reports that on the night of September 14, Ruslan Kravchenko left Ukraine, crossing the border through one of the checkpoints in the direction of Poland. The totality of these events — the resignation, the conflict with the anti-corruption agencies, the departure abroad, and the subsequent presidential proposal — paints a picture of a systemic crisis around the institution of the Prosecutor General's Office.