Ukraine's Prosecutor General Kostin resigns

Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin submitted his resignation on Oct. 22 amid reports of prosecutors illegally obtaining disability status.

Kostin's resignation comes after a National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) meeting headed by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

During the meeting, the "immoral situation" with the fake disabilities of prosecutors was discussed, and "many shameful facts of abuse" were revealed, according to Kostin.

"I am grateful to the president of Ukraine and Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada for their trust. But in this situation, I believe it is right for me to resign from the post of prosecutor general," he said.

The former prosecutor general added that he supported Zelensky's stance that all offenders are "personally liable" and all illegal decisions on disability status, pension, and other benefits should be reversed.

Following the NSDC meeting, Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) head Vasyl Maliuk said that the SBU had exposed corruption schemes at medical examination commissions in 2024, resulting in the cancellation of 4,106 fake disability status certificates.

Maliuk added that 64 officials at medical examination commissions have been charged with committing crimes, while another nine suspects have been convicted.

Medical examination commissions (MSEK) determine the severity of a disability.

Corruption schemes at medical examination commissions linked to draft evasion have been reported in Rivne, Mykolaiv, Khmelnytskyi, and Kharkiv oblasts.

Kostin has served as prosecutor general since July 28, 2022, replacing Iryna Venediktova.

Prior to that, he was a member of parliament from 2019 to 2022 and headed the legal policy committee.

From 2012 to 2019, Kostin was a deputy chairman of the Odesa Oblast Bar Association. He has been a member of the International Bar Association since 2000.

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