Media reported that Prosecutor General Kravchenko’s father obtained Russian citizenship in 2023. Prosecutor General’s Office comments on situation (updated)
The father of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko holds Russian citizenship. The head of the Prosecutor General’s Office has commented on the situation.
The discovery of Russian citizenship held by Kravchenko’s father was reported by Martyna Bohuslavets, head of the Anti-Corruption Center "Mezha", Censor.NET reports.
Details
According to her, Kravchenko's father became a citizen of the Russian Federation during the full-scale war - in 2023, he received Russian citizenship.
Also, according to Bohuslavets, he traveled from the occupied Luhansk region to Voronezh and Rostov regions.
"At first, the prosecutor general’s father used Ukrainian license plates, and then he changed his car registration to Russian," she said.
The head of the Anti-Corruption Center noted that Kravchenko obtained Russian citizenship in 2023, a year after the occupation of Sievierodonetsk, where he lived. That same year, Ruslan Kravchenko was appointed head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration.
Deputy prosecutors general
As Bohuslavets reports, the father of Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Lohachov owns Vodomir LLC, registered under Russian law, and the family also owns other businesses in the occupied territories.
The mother-in-law and father-in-law of another deputy prosecutor general, Maksym Krym, the head of the Anti-Corruption Center, Mezha says, still live in occupied Crimea.
And his wife has obtained an "INN" from the Russians, which, she noted, is tied to a birth certificate.
Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Action Center reported that the brother of Kravchenko’s first deputy served in the military prosecutor’s office of the aggressor state, and that her father has a business in occupied Crimea.
The Anti-Corruption Centre stated:
"The recent appointment of former defender Illia Kiva — the odious lawyer of Oleksii Shevchuk — to the SAPO competition commission, the threat 'I will come after each of you personally', the falsification of cases against anti-corruption detectives, the attempt to destroy NABU and SAPO — all this confirms the thesis: this iteration of the Prosecutor General's Office is mimicking the worst practices of Russian 'law enforcement'.
While Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko is publicly looking for a "Russian trace" in NABU and other anti-corruption agencies, this trace turns out to be very close — in his immediate circle."
Kravchenko’s explanation
In a comment to Sudovo-Yurydychna Hazeta, the Prosecutor General stated that he "is not a supporter of publicly discussing family circumstances."
"But when private stories are being turned into a tool of political manipulation, I believe it is right to speak directly," he noted.
Kravchenko said that his parents divorced in 2020. Since then, his mother and sister have been living in Kyiv. He last communicated with his father in 2022.
He said he is unaware whether his father obtained a Russian passport, as they do not maintain contact. If his father made any such decisions, this would be his personal choice and responsibility, he stressed, adding that neither as a son nor as an official does he bear responsibility for the actions of his relatives.
Ruslan Kravchenko also separately commented on information regarding his deputies.
"I understand that in wartime, society is particularly sensitive to any ties with the aggressor state. But the principle of personal responsibility has not been abolished. Even during war, the law cannot be replaced by public accusations," he stated.
Comment regarding the Deputy Prosecutors General
Regarding Maksym Krym, the Prosecutor General stated that his wife was born and lived in Crimea until 2015. After the occupation of the peninsula in 2014, the Russian Federation carried out mass forced passportization of Ukrainian citizens there, and she, according to the Prosecutor General, became a victim of this policy.
In 2015, she left the occupied peninsula.
"Ukraine does not recognize documents imposed by the occupation authorities. So-called ‘automatic’ citizenship is illegal and does not create legal consequences for our state. Obtaining a document under coercion does not mean voluntary acquisition of citizenship of the aggressor state and does not establish a legal link with it.
There are no facts indicating that these circumstances influenced Maksym Krym’s official duties or that there is any conflict of interest," he explained.
Kravchenko said that the family of Viktor Lohachov originates from Luhansk. After the start of Russian aggression in 2014, the family lost 90% of its assets in the temporarily occupied territory. What was preserved was relocated to Sievierodonetsk and Stanytsia Luhanska; however, following further occupation, these assets were also lost.
Since 2014, the family has been living in Kyiv. According to the Prosecutor General, there are no facts of visits to temporarily occupied territories or control over enterprises, while raiding and in-absentia re-registration are typical practices of occupation administrations toward the businesses of Ukrainians who left the seized territories.
Ruslan Kravchenko also noted that Mariia Vdovychenko, Maksym Krym and Viktor Lohachov hold valid security clearances granted after checks by the Security Service of Ukraine.
