Prosecutor general resigns amid political turmoil in Kyiv during Ukraine war

Ukraine’s prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko resigned amid corruption accusations after anti-graft officers searched his offices at the weekend. He called the allegations “completely unsubstantiated” and denied wrongdoing. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABu) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sapo) announced Saturday they uncovered a money-laundering scheme “led by an official in the prosecutor general’s office” and conducted raids. Investigators say a corrupt network received money to protect phone-scam call centres and laundered millions. NABu published images of a safe filled with dollar bundles, identifying five unnamed members. A Kravchenko deputy was remanded in custody on money-laundering suspicion.

In 2025, Volodymyr Zelenskyy faced protests that forced him to reverse plans to make NABu and Sapo subordinate to the national prosecutor’s office. The Swiss-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Crime (GI-TOC) says illegal call centres employ about 60,000 people in Ukraine. Kravchenko posted Monday: “I have resigned as prosecutor general. I do not want the office used as a tool in political confrontation. My position on the charges remains unchanged.”

New turmoil for Zelenskyy follows a shootout between Ukraine’s SBU and GUR security services. Kyiv installed new military leadership after Zelenskyy sacked the defence minister and, under protest pressure, also sacked the military commander-in-chief due to their feud.

Russia resumed attacks on Kyiv Monday, triggering air raid alerts in over a dozen regions after a three-day halt while US envoys visited Kyiv and Moscow. At least two were killed and seven wounded; a five-storey block in Solomianskyi district was damaged and vehicles set alight in Podilskyi district. Emergency services said Russians attacked Boryspil and Fastiv districts with drones. Social media reported Moscow moving ballistic missiles and heavy bombers from Russia’s east to airfields near Ukraine.

Kremlin’s Peskov Monday said Russia “does not rule out resuming the trilateral format” with Russians, Ukrainians and the US, but said it is too early for venue or dates. US negotiators told European reps in Kyiv Russia showed a “new willingness” to negotiate the Ukraine war, the French presidency said. Trump’s administration has repeatedly treated Putin’s willingness to list maximalist demands as willingness to negotiate.

Ukraine struck a Russian oil refinery in Ryazan and oil-processing facilities in Perm and Tatarstan, Zelenskyy said Monday. Regional governors confirmed both attacks; in Perm one killed and four injured when a drone damaged a residential building. A Russian attack damaged a British American Tobacco plant in Pryluky, Chernihiv region, with no known injuries, BAT Ukraine’s press office said.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in south-eastern Ukraine had off-site power restored via the Ferosplavna power line, Rosatom said, the Russian state nuclear corporation illegally in control of the station. The plant had been without external power since 20 August, relying on emergency diesel generators for nuclear fuel cooling. IAEA confirmed repairs completed during a ceasefire it brokered.

Latvia plans a 300% tariff on grain from Russia and Belarus. Latvia and Lithuania last week considered ending Russian grain shipments after Moscow stepped up transits following Ukraine attacks on Baltic ports.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk said he was “horrified by reports that fully autonomous drones launched by the Russian Federation killed three Ukrainians last month”. Türk called for an urgent ban on such weapons. The New York Times reported a Russian AI-guided drone killed three civilians in Zaporizhzhia on 6 July.