Zelenskiy asks lawmakers for swift removal of Ukraine's prosecutor general

KYIV, Sept 14 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr ‌Zelenskiy called on ​Ukrainian ​lawmakers on Monday to swiftly support the removal of Ukraine's prosecutor general as tensions escalated over a series of high-profile anti-corruption investigations.

Prosecutor General Ruslan ‌Kravchenko resigned his post last week after a corruption investigation reached ⁠his office. He was not charged with a crime or named a suspect in any investigation, but ‌anti-corruption authorities had accused a ‌subordinate of helping run a fraud ring.

Relations between Ukraine's anti-corruption watchdogs and other law-enforcement agencies have faced continuous strain over the past year, and Kravchenko said on ​Monday that he had signed a "suspicion notice" against the head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), one of the bodies investigating his office.

He alleged that NABU head Semen ⁠Kryvonos has forged official documents to obtain "an unlawful benefit on an exceptionally large scale" and accused him of ​a fictional adoption to "evade legal liability in court".

NABU and SAPO, the other anti-graft agency involved in the probe that led to the prosecutor ​general's resignation, said that Kravchenko's statement was another ‌step in a "systematic attack on independent anti-corruption bodies." They denied the allegations in Kravchenko's statement and said that Kryvonos had not ⁠been formally charged.

Under Ukrainian law, Zelenskiy needs to submit a formal request for parliament to accept Kravchenko's resignation. Parliament was expected to hold a vote on Tuesday, several lawmakers said.

"There is only ⁠one path for this Prosecutor General: removal from office. That is what I told him," Zelenskiy ​said on the Telegram app.

Kravchenko had been criticised by opponents for allegedly participating in an attempt to roll back the independence of NABU and SAPO last year – accusations he has denied.

The latest ‌escalation in the power struggle comes at a time when Ukraine is struggling to meet its obligations on some of the ‌anti-corruption reforms that are required to unlock vital funding from its international partners.

Corruption scandals also chip ⁠away at Zelenskiy's trust and ‌public approval ratings at a ​time when Ukraine is fighting for survival against Russia.

(Reporting by Reuters in Kyiv and Anna Pruchnicka in Gdansk; Editing by Tom Hogue and ‌Alex Richardson)

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