Issue is not in Kravchenko’s release, but in preserving remnants of integrity of Prosecutor General’s Office, - "servant of the people" Bakumov
In light of the dismissal of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, it is important to focus on preserving the integrity of the Prosecutor General’s Office following the "Carthage" operation conducted by NABU and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
This was stated by Oleksandr Bakumov, a member of parliament from the "Servant of the People" party, according to an article on Censor.NET titled "Kravchenko Is Leaving, but 'Carthage' Remains? What's Next?"
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"Personally, I will vote to remove Kravchenko from office. I am confident that the majority of members of parliament will do the same. The issue here is something else—preserving what remains of this institution’s integrity. In my opinion, the current reaction to these events is long overdue. It should have come sooner," the lawmaker noted.
According to Bakumov, the Committee on Law Enforcement is not an investigative commission.
"It is probably not entirely appropriate for us to investigate all the circumstances surrounding what happened at the Office of the Prosecutor General with the individual who submitted a resignation letter. We need to ask how the Office of the Prosecutor General and the prosecutor’s office as a whole should institutionally address this situation. If there are law enforcement-related questions regarding Kravchenko, then law enforcement officials should be the ones to ask them. Although I assume that during the hearing on whether to grant approval for his resignation, such questions may be raised," the MP explained.
Read the opinions of members of the Verkhovna Rada regarding Kravchenko's dismissal as Prosecutor General at this link.
Operation "Carthage"
- As a reminder, earlier "Ukrainska Pravda", citing its own sources, reported that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) were allegedly conducting searches at the offices of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, his deputy Maria Vdovichenko, and the head of the Odesa Regional State Administration, Oleg Kipper.
- On September 4, NABU and the SAPO announced that there was likely "protection" within the Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG) for a network of so-called call centers that scam people out of their money.
- According to media reports, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) have detained Serhiy Kropiva, deputy head of the Department of International Legal Cooperation at the General Prosecutor's Office.
- Prior to his current position at the OGP, Kropiva served as deputy head of the Odesa Regional State Administration, working alongside Oleh Kipper.
- Against this backdrop, NABU announced a new operation called "Carthage."
- The Office of the Prosecutor General announced that it would suspend an employee who is under investigation for possible involvement in "providing protection for a network" of fraudulent call centers and the laundering of assets.
- According to updated information, NABU and the SAPO uncovered a criminal organization whose members systematically received illicit gains from fraudulent call centers and laundered millions. The organizer of the scheme turned out to be one of the heads of a structural unit within the Office of the Prosecutor General.
- Records from a criminal group of OPG employees were also published.
- Later, the Office of the Prosecutor General confirmed that searches had been conducted at the homes of Prosecutor General Kravchenko and his deputy.
- The High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a preventive measure on Kropiva, an official with the State Guard Service.
- On September 7, Ivakhnenko was remanded in custody with bail set at 20 million hryvnia.
- On the evening of September 7, Kravchenko resigned from his post as Prosecutor General.
