Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies launched a major operation at the Prosecutor General’s Office on Friday, with searches reported at premises linked to a deputy prosecutor general and the governor of Odesa region.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) said they were conducting a special operation targeting an alleged criminal organization headed by an official from the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Investigators say the group is suspected of protecting a network of fraudulent call centers and laundering assets.
Ukrainska Pravda, citing sources, initially reported that searches were underway at premises belonging to Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, his deputy Mariia Vdovychenko and Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration.
The Prosecutor General’s Office later denied that Kravchenko himself had been searched.
Spokeswoman Mariana Haiovska told Ukrainska Pravda that investigators had conducted no searches either at Kravchenko’s home or in his office.
There was no immediate similar denial concerning searches involving Vdovychenko or Kiper.
Ukrainska Pravda sources also said NABU and SAPO detained Serhii Kropyva, deputy head of the Prosecutor General’s Office’s International Legal Cooperation Department.
Kropyva previously served as deputy head of the Odesa regional administration under Kiper, overseeing digital development and digitalization.
The Prosecutor General’s Office said it would fully cooperate with the anti-corruption investigation and provide investigators with the information they require.
It said an employee whose possible involvement in illegal activity is being investigated would be suspended from his duties during the pre-trial investigation.
The office stressed that investigators must establish all circumstances surrounding the suspected protection of fraudulent call centers.
NABU has so far publicly described the investigation as targeting a criminal organization headed by an official of the Prosecutor General’s Office, but has not publicly named the alleged leader or detailed the roles of the other officials reportedly searched.