Ukraine's chief prosecutor resigns over call centre corruption scandal

Ukraine's chief prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko has resigned over corruption allegations related to illegal call centres in the country.

Key points

• In 2025, nationwide protests broke out after Zelensky tried to implement reforms that would curb the independence of Nabu and Sap.
• Corruption scandals have plagued Kyiv throughout the war against Russia, with accusations levelled at a number of members of President Volodymyr Zelensky's inner circle.
• 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.
• Despite the creation of two Ukrainian anti-corruption bodies, Nabu and Sap, over a decade ago, corruption continues to be a significant difficulty in the country.
• During his time in office, the 35-year-old was credited with heading a drive against corruption.

It follows a search of his offices over the weekend by Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators. This person remarked they had identified a money-laundering scheme led by an official in Kravchenko's office.

In his resignation letter, Kravchenko remarked he did not want his position to be employed as a "tool for political confrontation", and referenced an earlier post in which he rejected the claims as "unsubstantiated".

According to Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (Sap), the network in Kravchenko's office received funds to protect call centres that carried out phone scams and "laundered millions in assets".

Notably, the funds was then employed to purchase property, jewellery, and other valuables, according to Nabu.

Kravchenko published a statement on Sunday evening dismissing the allegations as "completely unsubstantiated", and denied any wrongdoing.

He tendered his resignation a day afterwards, thanking Zelensky and the Ukrainian parliament for their "trust". The Ukrainian president is yet to comment publicly on the resignation.

Ukraine is an EU candidate country, a status it was granted on condition it mounted a credible fight against corruption.

Zelensky reinstated the freedom of the two anti-corruption bodies since of the backlash, but questions have persisted over his commitment to anti-corruption reform.

Last month, Nabu remarked it had uncovered a scheme to misappropriate more than $3m (£2.2m) in Ukrainian currency to pay bail for a former energy minister accused of capital laundering.

In practice, a senior official in Zelensky's office alleged to be involved was sacked.

In an interview with the BBC last month, Ukraine's former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov remarked the president needed to be asked concerning his awareness of potential corruption among his closest team.

"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 create any assumptions, " he stated.

After reportedly falling out with the head of Ukraine's armed forces, he has been outspoken against what he has called a "systemic crisis of governance" in Ukraine, since his dismissal in mid-July.

Nevertheless, he has emphasised that he has no evidence that Zelensky is personally involved in corruption.

"In all the time that I worked with him, not a single time have I received from him any task or assignment that would go against law or my sense of integrity, " Federov informed the BBC.

For now, ukraine' s chief prosecutor resigns over call centre corruption scandal remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.