Office of the President has declined to register petition seeking Prosecutor General Kravchenko’s removal for the sixth consecutive time

The Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC) reported that the Office of the President has declined to register a petition seeking the dismissal of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, marking the sixth such rejection to date.

Photo credit: News agency Ukrinform

The President’s Office justified its stance by arguing that convening a National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) meeting to address the situation within the prosecution service does not align with the legally mandated procedure for handling personnel matters. They further emphasized that prosecutors’ work is anchored in the principle of independence.

The Anti-Corruption Action Center, however, has dismissed this explanation as manipulative. The organization’s Executive Director, Daria Kaleniuk, asserted that the President’s Office is essentially claiming the Head of State lacks influence over the Prosecutor General – a position she says contradicts both the Constitution and established precedent. She pointed out that the President had previously suspended Iryna Venediktova by decree, while Andriy Kostin’s 2024 resignation followed a formal discussion during an NSDC session.

In her petition, Kaleniuk urged the President to convene the NSDC to address the crisis within the prosecution service and to publicly raise the issue of the Prosecutor General’s political accountability.

“AntAC did not, in any way, request the NSDC to dismiss the Prosecutor General or make a personnel decision. The request was to hold a session regarding the critical state of the prosecution and to signal to Kravchenko that he bears political responsibility for the situation. This is precisely the kind of response the Office of the President utilized in 2024 regarding then-Prosecutor General Kostin, once he was no longer deemed loyal,” the organization clarified.

According to Kaleniuk, the crisis has persisted since 2024, when hundreds of prosecutors were discovered to be holding fraudulent disability certificates. She emphasized that the issue remains unresolved, with new problems emerging. Specifically, she stressed that the Prosecutor General’s Office has been involved in pressuring the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), damaging Ukraine’s international reputation.

Furthermore, she claims Kravchenko himself signed notices of suspicion against NABU detectives – actions that human rights advocates have labeled as groundless. Kaleniuk also highlighted the lack of competitive selection processes for local leadership positions, asserting that the Prosecutor General has been appointing individuals who lack the requisite experience.

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The Anti-Corruption Action Center maintains that it will continue to demand Kravchenko’s dismissal, viewing it as a prerequisite for reform and Ukraine’s integration into the European Union.