Operation "Carthage": Two prosecutors featured in NABU recordings dismissed in Cherkasy
Viktoriia Dydych and Maksym Shtompel, who featured in recordings made by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) as part of Operation "Carthage", have been dismissed from the prosecution service in Cherkasy region.
The regional prosecutor’s office press service told local news outlet 18000, Censor.NET reports.
Details
The outlet reported that Dydych had worked in one of the departments of the Cherkasy Regional Prosecutor’s Office for many years, while Maksym Shtompel had served as deputy head of the regional prosecutor’s office since April this year.
The Prosecutor General’s Office has already signed the order dismissing them.
Viktoriia Dydych
Dydych headed the First Department for Procedural Supervision of Pretrial Investigations by Territorial Police Bodies and Prosecution within the Criminal Proceedings Oversight Directorate of the Cherkasy Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
Suspilne previously reported that Dydych is the sister of Serhii Kropyva, who is suspected of organising the scheme.
Her husband, Oleksandr Dydych, is also implicated in the case. He was remanded in custody, with the court setting bail at UAH 15 million.
Maksym Shtompel
He headed the Cherkasy Department of the District Prosecutor’s Office. In 2026, he took up the position of deputy head of the Cherkasy Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
Operation "Carthage"
- Earlier, Ukrainska Pravda, citing its own sources, reported that NABU and SAPO were allegedly conducting searches targeting Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, his deputy Mariia Vdovychenko, and Head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration (RMA) Oleh Kiper.
- On 4 September, NABU and SAPO reported the alleged "protection" by the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) of a network of so-called call centers that defraud people.
- According to media reports, NABU and SAPO detained Serhii Kropyva, deputy head of the PGO’s Department of International Legal Cooperation.
- Before taking up his current position at the PGO, Kropyva served as deputy head of the Odesa Regional State Administration on Oleh Kiper’s team.
- Against this backdrop, NABU announced a new operation called "Carthage."
- The Prosecutor General’s Office stated that it would suspend the employee whose possible involvement in "protecting a network" of fraudulent call centers and laundering assets is being investigated.
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According to updated information, NABU and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) uncovered a criminal organisation whose members systematically received bribes from fraudulent call centres and laundered millions. The organiser of the scheme was identified as the head of one of the Prosecutor General’s Office divisions.
- Recordings of the criminal group of Prosecutor General’s Office employees were also released.
- The Prosecutor General’s Office later confirmed searches at the premises of Prosecutor General Kravchenko and his deputy.
- The High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a pretrial restraint measure on Prosecutor General’s Office official Kropyva.
- On September 7, Ivakhnenko was remanded in custody with bail set at UAH 20 million.
- On the evening of 7 September, Kravchenko resigned from his post as Prosecutor General.
