Corruption in Ukraine: Traveled suddenly after dictation

One would actually think that top officials who are in office for the penultimate day no longer make business trips abroad. But something like that happened on Monday. The acting Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko has been out of the country since this morning - apparently on a business trip. Kravchenko said on Telegram that it was important to him to inform Ukraine's international partners about how to assess the Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities.

His statement does not reveal who commissioned him for this mission. "As part of this trip, a series of meetings are planned at which I intend to inform international partners about the real situation in the system of anti-corruption authorities. I want to address the concentration of uncontrolled influence by these authorities, as well as the risks that such a practice poses for state sovereignty, the rule of law and democratic institutions of Ukraine," Kravchenko said on Telegram.

According to information from the Ukrainian web portal Ukrayinska Pravda, Kravchenko crossed the border in a company car shortly after 2 a.m. on Monday. Whether the journey really leads to Brussels is questionable. According to Ukrayinska Pravda, he is currently in Lithuania.

Kravchenko is going on a “business trip” exactly one day before the session of the Ukrainian parliament that will determine his future. According to the parliamentary group leader of the ruling Servant of the People party, David Arachamia, on Tuesday parliament will vote on Kravchenko's dismissal request from September 7th. President Zelenskyj personally wrote to parliament calling on him to dismiss the prosecutor general.

Against this background, it should have been clear that the appropriate majorities for Kravchenko's dismissal would be found in parliament. And so the question remains as to who could have signed Kravchenko's business trip application and enabled him to cross the border unhindered.

As one of his last official acts, Kravchenko reported the director of the National Anti-Corruption Office Nabu, Semen Krywonos, a few hours before his departure. Among other things, he accuses him of falsifying official documents. In 2008, Kriwonos is said to have fictitiously assumed paternity of another child in order to avoid prosecution as the father of an allegedly underage child.

He was accused of using unfair means to campaign for the party of politician Yulia Tymoshenko. In addition, according to Kravchenko, Nabu and the specialized anti-corruption prosecutor's office Sapo received protected documents from proceedings against employees of the anti-corruption authorities during recent searches. In addition, according to him, important documents were copied and stolen.

It is entirely possible that Kravchenko himself faced corruption charges. Last week, Serhiy Kropyva, a high-ranking member of the Prosecutor General's Office, and his companion Elisabeta Ivakhnenko were arrested by the Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities Nabu and Sapo.

During house searches in the offices of the Attorney General's Office, the anti-corruption authorities found expensive jewelry and significant amounts of cash. Kropyva, deputy head of the international cooperation department in the attorney general's office, is accused of accepting bribes to protect fraudulent call centers. According to the prosecutor of the Special Investigation Agency (SAP), Serhiy Kropyva laundered around two million euros with the cooperation of Ivanchenko.