'No time to read fiction,' Zelenskyy says as he dismisses questions about former prosecutor general Kravchenko

"There is no candidate for the position of prosecutor general. That is why we currently have an acting prosecutor general. As soon as there is a candidate, the Verkhovna Rada will hold a vote. Parliament approves the appointment of the prosecutor general. The acting prosecutor general only recently took office. Perhaps he will prove himself," Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy also said he was not following the activities of former Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.

"First of all, I don't have time to read fiction. He is no longer the prosecutor general, so I don't follow his life. I heard that he accused me, the Presidential Office, NABU and SAPO of persecution. OK. That's what I heard. I haven't heard anything else," the president added.

Anton Kovalskyi is currently serving as acting head of the Prosecutor General's Office.

Carthage case and Ruslan Kravchenko's departure from Ukraine

On Sept. 4, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced that it had uncovered an alleged criminal organization that investigators say provided protection to a network of fraudulent call centers. Serhiy Kropyva, an official at the Prosecutor General's Office, is suspected of organizing the scheme. A court ordered him held in custody, with bail set at 120 million hryvnias.

On Sept. 7, Ruslan Kravchenko announced his resignation as prosecutor general. On Sept. 14, he left Ukraine through the Shehyni-Medyka border crossing. He said he had traveled abroad on a business trip.

On Sept. 15, the Verkhovna Rada approved Kravchenko's resignation by 317 votes. That same day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree dismissing him.

On Sept. 23, Ukrainska Pravda reported that Kravchenko and his wife had allegedly registered at a fictitious address in Vienna.

On Oct. 9, acting Prosecutor General Anton Kovalskyi said the Prosecutor General's Office was investigating the circumstances of Kravchenko's departure from Ukraine and the actions of officials involved in the Carthage case.

A separate internal investigation into Serhiy Kropyva was also underway to determine whether he had abused his authority for personal gain or interfered with the work of other prosecutors. His position was abolished, and a complaint against him was being reviewed by the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors.

On Oct. 30, Ukrainska Pravda published an investigation reporting that Kravchenko had initially been prevented from leaving Ukraine for Poland through the Shehyni border crossing because of alerts placed by NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO).

According to the publication's law enforcement sources, border guards at Shehyni confiscated Kravchenko's passport and did not return it for an extended period. However, he was eventually allowed to cross the border "after a call from Kyiv."

"Later, according to the same sources, border guards received a call from Kyiv and allowed Kravchenko to travel to Vienna, where security personnel from an Austrian intelligence agency may already have been waiting for him," Ukrainska Pravda journalist Mykhailo Tkach reported.

That same day, Ukraine's State Border Guard Service denied reports that Kravchenko had been allowed to leave the country "after a call from Kyiv."

On Nov. 2, acting Prosecutor General Kovalskyi announced that the Prosecutor General's Office had completed its internal investigation into Kravchenko.

The investigation found that the former official had committed official misconduct by using his position for personal benefit. In particular, he had improperly used an invitation from a foreign country to justify traveling abroad.