Six senior prosecutors resign over pensions controversy
Five regional prosecutors and the head of a specialized defense prosecution office have resigned over concerns they may have committed benefits fraud, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin announced on Oct. 25.
Kostin himself resigned days ago, as the fraud scandal involving Ukraine’s prosecution service was gaining strength. He is yet to be officially dismissed from his post and continues to serve as Prosecutor General.
According to Kostin, the resignations came from the heads of the regional prosecutor’s offices in Zaporizhzhya, Rivne, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, and the specialized defense prosecution office in southern Ukraine.
An internal investigation is currently examining all prosecutors who have claimed disability benefits.
“The first meeting of an independent commission tasked with selecting candidates for leadership roles in regional and district prosecutor's offices was recently held,” Kostin said in a Telegram post.
“I initiated the establishment of this commission to increase transparency in these appointments.”
Additionally, Kostin noted that the Prosecutors' Council supported legislative changes that would bar prosecutors from claiming disability pensions in addition to their normal salaries.
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