Ukraine's prosecutor general, Ruslan Kravchenko, resigned on Monday after anti-corruption investigators raided his office. The raid was linked to a major corruption scandal involving allegations that some of his officials were engaged in large-scale money laundering.
Kravchenko, who denies wrongdoing, quit his post after meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The allegations claim that officials received cash to protect call centres involved in illegal phone scams.
Investigators from Nabu, one of Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies, raided Kravchenko's office on Friday. Staff reportedly refused entry, leading investigators to use ladders to scale a metal gate. Nabu stated that a senior official within the prosecutor general's office protected a criminal network and helped launder its assets.
Law enforcement sources told the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper that each call centre paid $7,000 (£5,200) monthly in protection money, with bribes running into millions of dollars. Hundreds of these centres are believed to employ around 60,000 people across Ukraine. Nabu released images of a safe filled with dollar bills and said it had uncovered five officials behind the scheme, without naming them.
Andriy Osadchuk, deputy chair of parliament’s law enforcement committee, stated that the scandal highlights the need for reform within the prosecution service and for key posts to be filled through open competition. He added that fighting corruption is crucial for Kyiv's bid for EU membership.