The Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin resigned on October 22 amid scandals involving fraudulent disability claims. Regional prosecutors were found to have obtained disability certificates in large numbers: in the Khmelnytskyi region alone, 49 individuals received second-group disabilities. The decisions were issued by the head of the regional center for medical and social expertise, Tatyana Krupa, who was found to have nearly $6 million in cash and numerous valuables during searches.
Andriy Kostin, a member of the "Servant of the People" party, became the new Prosecutor General in July 2022, succeeding Iryna Venedyktova. This made him the 22nd Prosecutor General in the history of Ukraine. Following his resignation, his duties will be carried out by First Deputy Oleksiy Khomenko.
The scandal surrounding the "disability claims" by prosecutors led to the dissolution of medical and social expert commissions (MSEC) across the country. Kostin acknowledged corruption within the prosecutor's office and supported President Volodymyr Zelensky's initiative to annul illegal disability grants and pension payments.
Zelensky, commenting on the mass disability claims by prosecutors, stated that the Prosecutor General bears political responsibility for the situation within Ukraine's prosecutor's office.
The 49 prosecutors identified declared pension amounts exceeding 54 million hryvnias, with some having been registered since 2016. If the illegality of the payments is proven, prosecutors may be required to return the funds. Kostin described the situation regarding the fraudulent disability claims as immoral, and investigations and checks are ongoing at all levels.
Rumors of Kostin's dismissal have been circulating since the spring of 2024. Allegedly, the President's Office considered appointing Kostin as ambassador to the Netherlands with the consent of Western partners, allowing him to focus on work related to an international tribunal for Russia's crimes in Ukraine. Oleg Kiper, head of the Odesa Regional State Administration, was seen as a likely successor to Kostin.
"The Prosecutor General was avoiding decisions on issues that could become problematic for him in the future. He spent a lot of time abroad. Among security officials, Kostin even had the nickname 'Tourist,'" — sources from ZN.UA reported.
Andriy Kostin also repeated the mistakes of former Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. He engaged in active public activities, established good contacts with representatives of European justice, but lost control over the situation in his office.
"The situation in the Khmelnytskyi region was not just a trigger; it was the last straw. Widespread violations have caused extreme discontent, and no one was addressing order within the prosecutor's office. Kostin couldn't survive in the depths of the prosecutor's office, but it's worth noting that the peak of corruption in the Prosecutor General's Office occurred in the early 2000s," — commented a political analyst.
Fesenko rules out the influence of the head of the President's Office, Andriy Yermak, on Kostin's dismissal. In addition to Kiper, another potential candidate for the Prosecutor General's position could be Serhiy Ionushas, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Law Enforcement Issues. He was a leading candidate for the position back in 2019 when Ruslan Ryaboshapka was replaced. Ionushas led the legal firm "GeLeon," which represented the interests of the "Kvartal 95" studio.
"The presidential team has a limited personnel reserve in this area. There could be staff reshuffles or political appointments: someone close to the President's Office could take the position, or there might be another political appointee," — Fesenko added.
"The prosecutors won, receiving promises that investigations would be conducted against them. Kostin was not a strong prosecutor, and his place will be taken by another weak figure. In reality, all these resignations will change nothing. The other side of the story is that there is not a strengthening of the Office of the Prosecutor General, but rather a weakening of this institution," — the expert speculates.
Much of the weakness of the head of the Office of the Prosecutor General, Nebozhenko, can be explained by the almost manual management of the state organs system. However, regional prosecutors do not need to fear real punishments, as they are quite wealthy and influential individuals.
"We are talking about millionaires, a solid public. The President fears the prosecutors, because in the event of unrest in society, no one will protect the central authority. Therefore, they are kept in the status of 'wealthy pensioners.' And also — people with disabilities in Ukraine cannot be touched; it is simply immoral," — he concluded.
Recall that on June 10, 2024, journalists from the "Schemes" project published an investigation into how Kristina Ilnitska, the girlfriend of Deputy Prosecutor General Dmytro Verbitsky, ended up owning an elite cottage on the banks of the Konik River in Kyiv and a 2023 Porsche Macan T. The total value of the property amounted to at least 52 million hryvnias.
Kostin announced the initiation of a service investigation regarding Verbitsky's property status on June 19. According to the laws of Ukraine "On the Prosecutor's Office," there was no possibility to dismiss Verbitsky.