You Live by What You Fight: How This Works in the Prosecutor's Office

This has already become a tradition: the former attorneys general resign over scandals; Ruslan Kravchenko did not betray this tradition. On Monday afternoon he told journalists he had no plans to submit a resignation, and in the evening he said he had already written it, calling it a “political decision.” In substance, that is what happened, but the decision ripened after the huge uproar around the NABU and SAP special operation code-named “Carthage,” which exposed an organized group in the Office of the Prosecutor General that was shielding fraudulent call centers.

What you fight against is what you live on. That’s roughly the principle behind corruption schemes through which the prosecutor’s office is often called a “gold mine.” How this can happen is described in the material Short About .

Long-practiced schemes and the battle of prosecutors

“Rise to the top post in the Office of the Prosecutor General and descend to fraudulent handoffs!” — that’s how honest people react to the deputy head of the International Legal Cooperation Department of the OPG, Serhiy Kropiva, also known as the “Chancellor,” who allegedly shielded call centers. It’s all business, nothing personal. According to sources for Ukrainian truth, from each call center money could be sent monthly to the revered office on Ryzhnytska Street: approximately $7000. If there were 100 call centers, that would be $700 000, and in the current year—at the height of activity—the group could control up to 500 fraudulent centers, potentially $3,5 million over 30 days.

In the OPG, “Chancellor” arrived with a hefty case portfolio built during service in cyberpolice and a leadership post in the Odesa Regional Military Administration. Cloaked in the influence of the enigmatic “Boss,” he closed criminal cases opened against call centers and put them on ice, for which a reward was allegedly set. There is also an unconfirmed version that large-scale operations against call centers, periodically reported by police, Security Service, and the Office of the Prosecutor General, were aimed at the Chancellor’s competitors.

And this is not a no-brainer. A similar shielding scheme had already played out at underground casinos after gambling was banned. In the 2015 year, there was a loud scandal dubbed the “battle of prosecutors.” Kyiv Prosecutor’s Office head Serhiy Yuldashev initiated an internal investigation into the head of one of his departments, Vitaliy Bagants, the son of the then-deputy head of the Prosecutor General’s Office. Twenty district prosecutors testified that Bagants Jr. allegedly protected a network of illegal gambling establishments and pressured the police not to touch them.

However, an unforeseen development occurred: in March 18 the General Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal case against Serhiy Yuldashev himself for abuse of power and bribery. In response, 19 in March Yuldashev filed a case against Bagants Jr. for pressuring law enforcement. While this commotion continued, gaming rooms continued to serve addicted players without issue.

— No underground business can exist without protection from those who are supposed to fight it. Gratitude payments to law enforcement are a Secret of Polichinelle that everyone knows and rarely appears in criminal cases, because such an informal deal is a tacit agreement. The advantage of the prosecutor’s office is that it supervises every criminal case — whether it’s “one-armed bandits,” phone scams, or illegal subsurface development — and can either advance the case or stall it.

Operation “Amber” and the “diamond prosecutors”

As for mineral development, that is also a highly profitable article. During the “amber fever,” which in 2014–2017 years swept Rivne, Volyn, and Zhytomyr regions, illegal mining brought large sums to prosecutors, police, and the Security Service. In 2016 the leadership of these services announced a special operation “Amber,” which was followed by a string of controversial arrests.

The organizer of the “amber mafia” was named as the deputy prosecutor of Rivne region Andriy Borovyk, together with him the head of the Sarne district prosecutor’s office Vadym Topolskii and several other prosecutors went under the criminal case. According to the investigation, the suspects repeatedly extorted gold miners 50 000 US dollars for the release of detained miners.

Another case related to minerals received wide public attention as the story of the “diamond prosecutors.” In early July 2015, the deputy head of the Main Investigation Department of the GPU Volodymyr Shapakin and deputy prosecutor of Kyiv region Oleksandr Korniets were detained on suspicion of demanding money for shielding enterprises involved in sand extraction. The total amount of “protection” was to be 3 million 150 thousand hryvnias. But not so much the number as the results of searches drew public attention: $500 thousand in cash, jewelry, securities, unregistered weapons and ammunition. The label “diamond” prosecutors came from 35 packets of precious stones found in Oleksandr Korniets.

“In this case it was about illegal mining, but tribute can be demanded from legitimate business as well,” explains a lawyer. “There is a hook called ‘factual criminal proceeding,’ say, for tax evasion or embezzlement. The plot of the case is a total fake; no one is formally charged. But accounts are blocked, searches conducted, interrogations held — business is artificially blocked. Sometimes a mere hint of such pressure is enough to bring a bribe. Entrepreneurs can also be blackmailed with orders for various unscheduled inspections.”

From every case and every person

Lawyer Viktor Chevuz recalls taking up the case of one entrepreneur in the “zero” years, a case the General Prosecutor’s Office was pursuing.

— The client came to me to recover seized property — computers, phones, a small amount of money. I drafted a motion and went to the prosecutor. He showed me three fingers — 3000 dollars. I said we wouldn’t give a single penny. The prosecutor threatened that I would come to him three years. I said I would file complaints to higher authorities. It worked; the seized items were returned the next day. Let’s put it this way, it was a typical situation. The shame is that he was my former student. When I tried to shame him, he cynically replied: “Do you know what my salary is?” That’s why there should be money added from every case and every person.

As in 2000, and now, the legal income of prosecutors exceeds police investigators’ salaries, not to mention teachers and doctors. In 2026, according to the Nfront site, the Office of the Prosecutor General’s average salary ranges from 80 000 – 120 000 hryvnias. Prosecutors with little experience earn closer to 60–75 thousand, specialists with 10–15 years of service easily reach 100 000 – 150 000. Roughly, that amount corresponds to a prosecutor with 10 years’ experience in the capital and regional centers; in smaller district prosecutors’ offices the numbers fall to 70 000 – 90 000 hryvnias.

A separate article is prosecutor’s pension, which can be tucked into a wallet after 25 years of service. Pension payments amount to 60% of a monthly salary, but in practice can be much higher. The law provides limits that servants of the law easily bypass through courts and artificially extend their length of service. The same Serhiy Kropiva, also known as the “Chancellor,” in 2025 year received 23 600 pension per month, and he retired in 41 year.

You can live well. And if you live by the principle “from every case and every person,” even better. One bets, another brings in. The tip of this iceberg can be seen in the register of court decisions.

Not worth flaunting it

In August this year the Court of Appeal of the High Anti-Corruption Court left standing the sentence of former head of the OPG department Galchenko-Avilov — 6,5 years in prison. It was about a bribe of 100 000 dollars for the return of four confiscated premium cars in a criminal case. This is one of the few cases that ended with an actual sentence. In most cases the defendants strike deals with the investigation and serve a suspended term.

Regarding public corruption scandals, even verdicts aren’t reached. Cases fall apart at the investigative stage or in court, and it’s unclear who was right. This is how the “battle of prosecutors” and the “amber mafia” ended. The defendants lost their positions in the prosecutor’s office but well arranged themselves outside it. Ex-head of Sarne prosecutorVadim Topolsky even managed to return to the post and recover 508 108 hryvnias from the state for the time of forced layoff.

“Diamond prosecutors” still argue their innocence in court; in 2021 the case began anew from scratch. The fate of the case against former deputy prosecutor general Dmytro Verbytsky is intriguing — in 2024 year he was allegedly exposed for illegal enrichment, but the suspicion has not been announced yet. Verbytsky himself actively litigates with the National Agency on Corruption Prevention.

— Many cases are not pursued further because the traces could reach far and high, says lawyer Oleksiy Syrotyn. “It’s not that one person harshly abuses, and colleagues and leaders know nothing. There is always a security service, there are secret surveillance methods, but there are also default rules. This is how any corruption system is structured; it’s unfair to single out the prosecutor’s office. Right now it is in the spotlight.”

According to lawyer Viktor Chevguza, the latest corruption scandals partially result from unprofessional leadership of the Prosecutor’s Office.

— There have always been abuses, but there were also some boundaries. Now leaders come to the post without proper prosecutorial practice and bring along those who have already absorbed various schemes and think money is the main thing in their work.

“Stealing equals a million.” This phrase from the Chancellor’s lips is captured on NABU’s tapes. How the Carthage story will end and whether the circle of people involved will widen, no one is currently willing to predict.