Verkhovna Rada dismisses Prosecutor General Kravchenko with 317 votes
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Verkhovna Rada dismisses Prosecutor General Kravchenko (Photo: Ruslan Kravchenko / Facebook)
Verkhovna Rada voted to dismiss Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko with 317 votes in favor, the parliamentary broadcast showed on Sept. 15.
On Sept. 15, Ukraine’s parliament backed the formal resignation and dismissal of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, with 317 lawmakers voting in support of the resolution.
Prior to the floor vote, Kravchenko issued a public address to lawmakers via Telegram, seeking to frame his removal as politically orchestrated:
"I am grateful to the Verkhovna Rada for its trust and will respectfully accept any decision regarding my dismissal today," he said.
"However, this must be strictly the decision of the parliament — not an order from the president, not a request from the 'chief' of parliament, not an hysterical demand from the leadership of anti-corruption agencies whose inner circles are themselves implicated in corrupt deeds, and certainly not the outcome of the political and media pressure campaign they orchestrated that we witness today."
He maintained that the suspicion notice he leveled against National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) Director Semen Kryvonos was "lawful and substantiated," asserting that any reversal of the decision stemmed from political coercion. He urged parliamentarians to vote on his dismissal autonomously, without executive branch pressure.
Showdown with NABU and Border Escape
Targeting NABU: On Sept. 14, Kravchenko — who had earlier submitted a resignation statement on Sept. 7 amid mounting scrutiny over alleged ties to protected criminal schemes — announced criminal charges against NABU Director Semen Kryvonos. Kravchenko alleged that during searches executed under Operation Carthage, anti-corruption detectives accessed restricted materials and illicitly copied and removed classified files.
Presidential ultimatum: Following Kravchenko's unilateral moves, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly condemned the prosecutor general, declaring that his only remaining path was immediate dismissal and calling on the Rada to act without delay.
Agencies push back: Kryvonos told NV that he had not formally received the notice of suspicion regarding alleged document forgery for large-scale unlawful gains. NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) subsequently issued a joint statement denouncing Kravchenko’s actions as a dangerous continuation of a systemic assault on independent anti-corruption institutions.
Fleeing the country: Prior to issuing the charges, Kravchenko crossed the border into Poland in an official state vehicle at 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 14 under the pretext of a foreign mission, two days after his wife slipped out of Ukraine into Moldova.
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