Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
14 September, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko announced that he had signed two indictments: one for NABU head Semen Kryvonos and one for a person close to the head of the SAP, Oleksandr Klymenko. He most likely announced this while already abroad — the OPG reported that Kravchenko signed an order for a five-day business trip to France. He was supposedly to take part in a PACE event, but according to media reports the prosecutor general was not invited there. As of the evening, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky submitted a motion to the Verkhovna Rada to dismiss Kravchenko and suspended him from office. The directors of NABU and SAP said that neither they nor their family members had received any indictments, called Kravchenko's actions a reaction to Operation "Carthage," and the Office of the Prosecutor General added that the indictments "were devoid of legal meaning." The publication GORDON collected Ukrainians' reactions to the scandal.
Today's scandal became one of a series that have shaken Ukraine over the past weeks: Operations "Forrest Gump" and "Themis" exposing top officials, a shootout between fighters from the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense and the Security Service of Ukraine — these events occurred within a month and all caused major resonance.
Read also
The prosecutor general signed an indictment against the NABU director and left Ukraine, Zelensky issued a sharp statement. What is happening
14 September, 15.48
Politics
Journalist Stas Kozlyuk drew attention to exactly this: "I know I'm asking a lot, but still. Can we have a little embargo on all this nonsense, please? Like, I don't know, until the end of the special period? Because, honestly, I have no strength left. Especially when colleagues from abroad ask what's going on here. And you can't explain all this briefly. Ideally, a bottle is needed. But I don't really feel like drinking anymore."
A meme based on the scandals of recent weeks was also created and published by Ukrainian publicist Yurii Bohdanov.
Journalist and TV presenter Iryna Romaliyska, noting the style of today's messages from the prosecutor general, recalled her experience interacting with Kravchenko. In her view, he "...has flipped out."
"I personally know the prosecutor general, I have seen much of his work in courts. I'll put it this way: from what I've observed, he is very unbalanced, emotional, can be aggressive and vindictive. And he can lie low for a long time. But I can say for sure: he has already entered the history of modern Ukraine," she emphasized.
Former Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Volodymyr Omelyan reminded people of things that seem obvious.
"The only conclusion future statesmen must draw from this situation: if fate has given you a chance to be useful to your country — don't miss it, change the country. Don't make deals, don't choose between 50 shades of gray, do the right thing, according to the law and for the sake of the law. Because all compromises will turn against you. And even if the public doesn't immediately understand you, your time will come," he wrote.
Well-known military volunteer, head of the Center for Aeroreconnaissance Support Mariia Berlinska proposed a radical idea: "grab him by the balls and return the thieving prosecutor to the country," and then "dismiss him, have him serve as a private, preferably on the Donetsk front."
Some users discussed reports that MP Danylo Hetmantsev could be a candidate for the prosecutor general position (he denied this possibility).
And there are those who address the president and draw attention to his personnel policy.
Among politicians and journalists there are not isolated calls to change the procedure for appointing the prosecutor general. Currently the president submits a candidate to the Verkhovna Rada; instead, they propose a competition, like for the heads of anti-corruption agencies (ordinary prosecutors also go through competitions for their positions). Even before this morning's scandal, Voice MP Yaroslav Yurchyshyn told Radio Svoboda that the procedure for choosing a new prosecutor general is important.
He believes the best solution is to announce an independent competition.
Read also
Who will replace Kravchenko? Media learned about contenders for the prosecutor general post
14 September, 22.18
Society
"Names are being mentioned, but at the rumor level. From Mr. [Vasyl] Malyuk — former SBU head, Mr. [Ihor] Klymenko, who was just appointed secretary of the RNBO, to Mr. [Serhii] Ionushas, who now heads the relevant committee. And, on the one hand, all these people have tenure, experience, legal education, could participate in a competition and prove they are the best. Then the president could easily nominate one of them. And I find it hard to imagine which representatives of which political forces in parliament now would not support appointing a person who won an open competition to the prosecutor general post," Yurchyshyn said.
The new prosecutor general must limit his own power, added former deputy prosecutor general Gyunduz Mamedov.
Former MP Hanna Hopko warned that bad personnel decisions (among examples she named Yuliia Mendel, the former presidential press secretary, against whom he imposed sanctions the other day) not only destroy state governance. In her view, they also put at risk Ukraine's receipt of international aid.
"You see how the popularity of the ultra-right and ultra-left is growing in Europe. And these are the ones who will use corruption scandals in Ukraine to justify why they don't want to help us overcome the Russian Federation. It's so obvious," she emphasized. "I think most of these 'heroes' of scandalous cases 'weren't taught as they should have been,' as Taras Shevchenko said, and generally do not understand what a state is, Ukraine, the Ukrainian people."
In her view, the president, to get out of the current situation, must "seek votes" in the Verkhovna Rada to launch competitions for the prosecutor general post.
BlackSeaNews editor-in-chief Andrii Klymenko ironically recalled Ukraine's history of fighting corruption, even bringing some optimism to the discussion.
"Some overly sensitive and nervous Facebook youth have come into the media and the civic and expert sectors: corruption, they say, political crisis in the country... Ah, kids. It's because they were children or not even born during the times of Danylich, Pavlo Ivanovych or Fedyrych and the 'Pshonka-style.' Now that was corruption. But now — pfft, some miserable remnants are being finished off, with neither scale nor creativity. And for one corrupt official — 15 public organizations, 50 journalists, the High Anti-Corruption Court, NABU, SAP.... So, friends, don't worry. This is not a crisis. It's just fighting childish and stupid remnants of corrupt officials in the rear during the war. Everything will be Ukraine," he emphasized.
Fursa suggested there may be a connection between today's events and a possible adviser on astrology matters known as Veronika Fengshui.
And Babel's editor-in-chief Kateryna Kobernyk urged not to forget the main thing: "Around us is a very fragile construction being broken by powerful players. Don't help them."
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item ""Можна вже ембарго на дичину?" Що кажуть українці про скандал із Кравченком. Огляд". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Gordon.
