A Colorful Undercover Recording Spurs Fresh Outrage Over Graft in Ukrain

A case about kickbacks has drawn attention in a country worried that corruption threatens the war effort, and its future.

Corruption allegations against his office have toppled Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Ruslan Kravchenko.

Thomas Peter/Reuters

By Maria Varenikova, Cassandra Vinograd and Nataliia Novosolova

Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine

Sept. 16, 2026 Updated 9:14 a.m. ET

Original article contains links.

Ukrainians are used to revelations of corruption in their government. But one case that emerged this month has managed to grab their attention, in part because of a vivid turn of phrase. 

An official working under Ukraine’s top prosecutor was caught on tape by anti-corruption investigators describing his own approach to enriching himself through corruption.

“If you’re going to do something, then go all in — boom,” the official was recorded saying. He then explained, profanely, what he meant. If you’re going to sleep with a woman, he said, then sleep with “a queen.” And if you’re going to steal, then steal “a million.”

According to investigators, the official, Serhiy Kropyva, and others in the Office of the Prosecutor General did just that — the stealing part, anyway — through kickbacks they received for covering up a network of phone scammers working in Ukraine and abroad.

The allegations toppled the prosecutor general, Ruslan Kravchenko, who was formally removed from office on Tuesday by Parliament after President Volodymyr Zelensky called for his ouster. Mr. Kravchenko had already resigned last week.

He denies wrongdoing. He left Ukraine in recent days, saying that he was traveling abroad to discuss the work of anti-corruption bodies in Ukraine with partner countries — an explanation greeted with eye-rolls by his countrymen.

The official on the tape, Mr. Kropyva, has been arrested and is in pretrial detention. He at first denied that it was his voice but has since backed away from that claim. He says he is innocent of corruption.

The colorful recording has spawned memes as well as bitterness among Ukrainians. They have been sacrificing for their homeland, including through regular donations to the army, only to see an endless parade of officials accused of illicitly filling their own pockets.

Many Ukrainians see graft as a threat not only to the war effort but also to the country’s future. At the same time, they voice pride in the justice meted out in such cases, seeing it as a sign that the country’s democracy, including independent anti-corruption agencies, remains healthy after nearly five years of all-out war. 

The scandal involving the Office of the Prosecutor General comes at a delicate moment for Mr. Zelensky, who has come under pressure to clean house amid the drip-drip-drip of corruption cases.

The revelations are especially stinging at a time when Ukraine is badly lacking money for the war. They threaten to sow doubts among the country’s European partners just as Ukraine asks for help in plugging its yawning budget gaps.

Russia has escalated attacks on the Ukrainian economy, striking warehouses, gas stations, railways and energy infrastructure with jet-powered drones for which Ukraine has not yet found an effective defense. The country’s prime minister, Serhii Koretskyi, said last week that Russian assaults would deprive the state of about $1.5 billion.

A clash over Ukraine’s anti-corruption efforts came to a head last year, when people took to the streets to safeguard the autonomy of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, known as NABU, and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. Both were created a decade ago with strong Western backing.

Ukrainians protesting an attempt to rein in independent anti-corruption agencies last year. Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times

The Zelensky administration had moved to curb their power by placing them under the authority of the prosecutor general, who is approved by Parliament, where the president’s party holds a majority. Mr. Zelensky reversed course in the face of the demonstrations.

The prosecutor general who would have overseen the anti-corruption agencies was Mr. Kravchenko, the man who has now been felled in a corruption case.

Since the 2025 protests that preserved its independence, NABU has accused dozens of officials of corruption. The most highly publicized case, involving graft in the energy sector, led to the dismissal of Andriy Yermak, the powerful head of Mr. Zelensky’s office.

According to a survey conducted this summer by the Center for Social and Marketing Research in Kyiv, a majority of Ukrainians see corruption as having a stronger impact on the country than Russian bombings.

“These corruption scandals are terrible, and they are certainly demoralizing,” said Dmytro Kalach, 38, who works in light manufacturing and regularly donates money to the army.

He said that the graft would not deter him from continuing to support the military.

“The fact that they are scoundrels,” he said of government officials accused of corruption, “doesn’t mean I have to be a scoundrel like them.”

Some Ukrainians said they would carry on doing whatever it took to survive despite the corruption but still felt deeply hurt when cases came to light.

“I cannot simply shrug off these corruption scandals,” said Viacheslav Oksiuta, 68, a retiree from the military. He continues to work in the defense sector and is the father of two sons, one of whom is serving in the army.

“I can’t even watch television when I hear about these cases,” he said. “I take all of this very personally.”

Even as Parliament was taking action against Mr. Kravchenko this week, the drumbeat of corruption accusations carried on. Investigators said on Tuesday that they had discovered another illegal enrichment scheme, this time in a tax service office in western Ukraine.

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Maria Varenikova covers Ukraine and its war with Russia. 

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Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine

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 -- A City Fears Obliteration: The frontline Ukrainian city of Izium still bears the scars of Russian occupation from four years ago. As Moscow’s forces approach, residents are bracing for the worst.

 -- Driving Wedges Between Ukraine and Its Allies: Britain warned that Russia uses disinformation to divide Ukraine from its international partners, with the government suggesting that Russia accused Ukraine of planning a false-flag attack on Britain’s ambassador to Russia. 

 -- Russian Drone: An incursion by a Russian drone into Moldova’s airspace forced the authorities there to temporarily ground several flights, including one carrying President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, the Moldovan government said. 

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See more on: Russia-Ukraine War

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