Ukraine's Prosecutor General Denies Involvement in Call Center Protection Racket

Ukraine's Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko has denied allegations that he was involved in a criminal organization that provided protection for scam call centers. The investigation, conducted by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), alleges that a group of officials received bribes to allow these call centers to operate without interference. The centers targeted both Ukrainian citizens and foreigners.

As part of the probe, known as Operation Carthage, investigators searched the Prosecutor General's office and detained Serhii Kropyva, the head of the cybersecurity department. NABU released recordings referring to a boss with the patronymic Andriiovych who previously led the State Tax Service. Ruslan Andriiovych Kravchenko served as the head of that agency from December 2024 to June 2025. In response, Kravchenko stated on Telegram that he had no involvement in covering up illegal activities and announced that staff working on call center cases must undergo polygraph testing.

The case occurs amid broader tensions between Ukrainian security agencies and pressure from the European Union to depoliticize the position of the Prosecutor General. While the center lean source focuses on the legal implications and the specific evidence linking Kravchenko to the boss mentioned in recordings, the center right lean source frames the event as part of a larger pattern of conflict between competing security agencies and mentions potential links to other criminal activities, including an attack on an oligarch in Monaco.