Ukraine prosecutor general resigns amid military draft probe

 

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin has announced his resignation after a probe by the country's security services uncovered a large-scale corruption scheme that apparently provided military draft exemptions for government officials.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded by issuing a decree for the current system of medical and social commissions that register people as disabled to be scrapped by the end of the year, removing a way to dodge the draft through bribery.

Mobilisation in Ukraine is a hotly-contested and controversial issue that has polarised society after a large-scale military recruitment drive earlier this year to bolster Ukraine's struggling forces as they fight off Russia's invasion.

"Many shameful facts of abuse have been established within the system of prosecutor's offices of Ukraine," Kostin said in a statement on social media.

"I believe it is right to announce my resignation from the post of Prosecutor General," he added.

His announcement came shortly after Zelensky said he had held a meeting with senior Ukrainian officials about the widespread abuse of the issuing of disability certificates to officials "in various state bodies," that would allow them to avoid military service.

In a statement following the meeting, Zelensky said Kostin should take "political responsibility" for the situation within his agency.

In his evening address, Zelensky told the nation that such corruption extended much wider than just to prosecutors.

"There are hundreds of such cases of obviously unjustified disabilities among customs, tax, Pension Fund and local administration officials," he said.

"All of this needs to be dealt with thoroughly and promptly," he said, calling for the system of medical and social expert commissions to be "liquidated".

The whole process must be digitalised, he added, saying that currently "people who have received a real disability, particularly in combat, often cannot get the appropriate status and fair payments".

The Security Services of Ukraine (SBU) had earlier issued a statement saying 64 officials within the Medical and Social Expert Commissions had been notified they were being investigated for illegally issuing disability certificates.

"Another nine people have already been convicted," the SBU said in their statement, adding that 4,106 disability certificates "were cancelled."