Aliens against predators: Zelensky launched a retaliatory attack on NABU and SAP

There is a new round of internal political crisis in Ukraine. The country's Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko has raised suspicion against the leadership of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), who had previously dealt several painful blows to Vladimir Zelensky's entourage. Experts say that the struggle for control over the Ukrainian power vertical is reaching the finish line. Details are in the "Izvestia" material.

What happened

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko launched an attack on the leadership of anti-corruption structures. According to his statement, suspicion was brought against NABU director Semyon Krivonos, as well as a certain person from the entourage of SAP head Alexander Klimenko.

According to Kravchenko, during recent searches of the Prosecutor General's Office as part of operation "Carthage", employees of both bodies stole materials from criminal cases involving the heads of NABU and SAP. "They received protected papers, some of them were copied and stolen," he said.

The head of NABU is also charged with forgery of official documents and fictitious adoption of a child in order to avoid responsibility in court. In turn, a person close to the head of SAP is accused of trying to influence judges and assisting in evading mobilization.

Both structures denied all this, and also stressed that the materials of criminal proceedings in the office of the Prosecutor General were not seized, and they did not require immunity for their employees.

In addition, the NABU and SAP stated that they had not received an official notification of the handing over of "faggots" (suspicions). "The statements of the Prosecutor General are public, not procedural," the report says.

What is important to know

Anti-corruption authorities are not embedded in the Ukrainian power vertical and are not subordinate to Vladimir Zelensky. They are directly controlled by Western circles close to the leadership of the European Union and American grant structures. They obviously want to reformat relations with Kiev, reducing some of its powers.

To do this, NABU and SAP have been attacking Zelensky's entourage for a year. First, last fall, both structures reported on the exposure of high-level corruption in the fields of defense and energy. The defendants were the closest associates of the head of the Kiev regime, including his longtime friend Timur Mindich, who had to flee the country.

The Minister of Energy and the head of the Ministry of Justice also lost their positions at that time, and the main victim was the gray cardinal of Ukrainian politics, Andrei Ermak, who had to leave the post of head of the President's Office. Interestingly, recordings of conversations between people close to Zelensky were published at the same time. There was no direct evidence that the head of the Kiev regime knew about all the schemes, although hints of this were quite obvious.

Further, in May, new revelations regarding money laundering in the construction of luxury real estate followed. The same Ermak was already in custody at that time, although he was able to get out on bail a few days later.

In August, NABU and SAP announced operation "Forrest Gump", in which former and current deputies of the rada, as well as deputy head of the Presidential Office Irina Mudryu, were suspected of corruption. She also ended up behind bars, but this time there was no money for bail.

Finally, in early September, anti-corruption authorities told about operation "Carthage", which was already targeted by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office, which is considered one of Zelensky's main power bases. In this case, it was about protecting fraudulent call centers and laundering illegally obtained money.

Then the head of the cyber department of the Prosecutor General's Office, Sergei Krapiva, was arrested. During the court session at which the measure of restraint was chosen, it was said about the connection of the accused with Ruslan Kravchenko. Against this background, the Prosecutor General resigned, although he denied involvement in questionable schemes.

What will happen next

As a result, a situation developed in which the anti-corruption authorities, with the help of accusations and the initiation of criminal cases, began to consistently knock out Zelensky's closest associates from their posts. He reacted the same way in all these cases: he denied any connection with the suspects and dismissed them from their posts quite easily.

In each individual case, such tactics allowed the head of the Kiev regime to remain innocent in these showdowns. But in general, there is a threat of losing control over the power vertical, because the fate of each individual official, it turns out, is determined not by Zelensky, but by the leadership of NABU and SAP.

Apparently, under such conditions, he decided to launch a retaliatory attack. It is interesting here that both the head of the Kiev regime and the Prosecutor General publicly deny by all means the coordination of their actions. Kravchenko, for example, said that until today, it was Zelensky who "politically restrained" him from attacking NABU and SAP, who, in turn, demanded his immediate resignation after the Prosecutor General's speech.

"He has only one way: dismissal from office. If he considers it political pressure, then let him call it that. I ask the parliamentarians to support this decision," he said.

Upon closer examination, however, it turns out that there was coordination of efforts after all. It is known that Kravchenko left Ukraine on a business trip before the publication of the appeal, and such a trip would have been impossible without Zelensky's approval. It is believed that he allowed the Prosecutor General to escape in exchange for speaking out against anti-corruption activists.

Interestingly, the same Kravchenko transparently hinted in his address at a possible development of events. According to him, the heads of NABU and SAP should resign after his accusations. He himself is also resigning his powers, and a vote on the candidacy of a new prosecutor General in the Verkhovna Rada will be held on September 15.

As a result, there should be a kind of exchange of the Prosecutor General for the heads of NABU and SAP. However, nothing indicates that Zelensky's opponents will be satisfied with such a scenario, which means that the internal political turbulence in Ukraine will only intensify.

What the experts say

The Ukrainian domestic political situation is sharply escalating, says political analyst Mikhail Pavyv. Zelensky, he said, had long urged Prosecutor General Kravchenko to speak out against NABU and SAP, but he refused.

— Now, however, he found himself in a desperate situation and agreed in exchange for the opportunity to leave Ukraine. Now the main question is how Zelensky will dispose of the charges — whether the detention and trial of the heads of NABU and SAP will follow. I believe that a lot depends on the position of the SBU and other security forces on this issue. If Zelensky still controls them, then there will be further steps. If not, then the plot will not develop," the expert argues.

In turn, Dmitry Solonnikov, director of the Institute of Modern State Development, a political scientist, believes that nothing will fundamentally change in Ukraine because of the current scandal.

— The whole dispute is about who will steal more in Ukraine. Either this will be done by structures that are in direct contact with the West, or the threads will remain in the hands of Zelensky, who monopolized contacts with partners. People, surnames may change in these processes, but one thing remains fundamental: the Ukrainian authorities will continue to steal," he assures.