Director of Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) Semen Kryvonos views reports of the announcement of suspicions as an attack aimed at politicizing anti-corruption agencies.
"In recent months, we have been witnessing a blatant and desperate attempt to drag us into the political agenda. This is being spread, once again, through the same anonymous Telegram channels, which are spreading individual phrases taken out of context from foreign media publications, as well as comments by representatives of our Ukrainian establishment or authorities suggesting that we have become involved in the political process and are somehow playing political games. We are not playing any political games, and we view this attack, of course, as an attempt to politicize the situation," Kryvonos said during a joint briefing with SAPO Director Oleksandr Klymenko on Monday.
The NABU director expressed his conviction that the goal of this attack is "to shift the focus, politicize NABU and the SAPO, and discredit the anti-corruption agencies."
According to him, Ruslan Kravchenko, who has already been removed from the post of Prosecutor General, was preparing an attack on anti-corruption institutions a year ago.
"Today we witnessed such a bizarre invention, a new form of media "Telegram suspicions." Personally, I have not seen a paper document or a notice of suspicion addressed directly to me. No one handed it to me (the suspicion), and no one brought it to NABU or the SAPO," Kryvonos said.
The NABU director also said that no cases were seized from the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO).
When asked about the allegations against him and the alleged seizure of cases at the PGO involving NABU investigators, he replied that he "does not and will not comment on nonsense and Telegram allegations."
"Regarding the materials seized at the Prosecutor General's Office: the detectives acted strictly within the law and on the basis of rulings by investigative judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court, and seized, to the extent they deemed sufficient, the materials that were located on the premises of the Prosecutor General's Office… It is stated there that a report was seized, not the criminal proceedings themselves," Kryvonos said.
The head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office added: "A list of detectives was seized – specifying which cases have been opened against them, what investigative measures are being carried out, and what measures are planned. And this was done solely to exert pressure, because these are key detectives investigating major criminal cases. In other words, no general case file or case materials were seized. Nothing of the sort was seized from the detectives or prosecutors."
As previously reported, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko resigned on September 7 amid a NABU investigation as part of operation "Carthage," in which he and his first deputy, Maria Vdovychenko, are named in the records of covert investigative (search) operations. No charges have been brought against Kravchenko, and the decision on his resignation is to be considered by the Verkhovna Rada. The official himself categorically denies any involvement in the legalization of funds from illegal call centers or the existence of undeclared assets, claiming that the Anti-Corruption Bureau's accusations are baseless.
On Monday, September 14, Kravchenko signed a notice of suspicion addressed to Semen Kryvonos, director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. In response, NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) stated that they view such actions as a continuation of a systematic attack on independent anti-corruption bodies.
President Zelenskyy submitted a motion to the Verkhovna Rada seeking approval to dismiss Kravchenko from office.
Head of the Servant of the People faction Davyd Arakhamia said a vote on the dismissal of Prosecutor General Kravchenko would take place during a plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada on September 15.
According to Ukrainska Pravda journalist Mykhailo Tkach, Kravchenko left Ukraine, a fact later confirmed by Kravchenko himself, who stated that he had gone on a business trip. Tkach added that Kravchenko's wife left the country on September 12 via Moldova.
Kravchenko said he had traveled to France to participate in a hearing of the Parliamentary Network of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), but PACE reported that neither he nor his representatives would be participating in the relevant session. The Prosecutor General arranged his business trip to France to begin on September 13 – that is, six days after he submitted his resignation.
