Kyiv: Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko submitted his resignation Monday after anti-corruption authorities conducted searches at his offices as part of an investigation into alleged protection of fraudulent call centers. In a statement on Telegram, he called his move a 'political decision.'

According to Anadolu Agency, Kravchenko stated, "I do not want the position of prosecutor general to be used as a tool of political confrontation," emphasizing that his stance regarding the allegations remained unchanged. He expressed gratitude towards President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, for their trust and requested lawmakers to accept his resignation.

The resignation came after the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) conducted searches at locations associated with Kravchenko, his first deputy Maria Vdovychenko, and other staff members at the Prosecutor General's Office. These actions were part of Operation Carthage, which investigates an alleged criminal organization accused of accepting bribes from fraudulent call centers to operate without interference.

Kravchenko has denied any involvement in the alleged scheme, asserting that the accusations against him lack substantiation. The investigation also resulted in the detention of Serhii Kropyva, deputy head of the Prosecutor General's Office's Department of International Legal Cooperation, with a court ordering him held in custody and setting bail at 120 million hryvnias ($2.7 million).