Fugitive Ex-Prosecutor Alleges Anti‑Corruption Agencies Ordered Hit In Austria

Overview

• Ruslan Kravchenko publicly accused the heads of Ukraine’s National Anti‑Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti‑Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) of asking for a group to be sent to Austria to carry out violent acts, and he said orders came from the Office of the President.
• NABU and SAPO issued an outright denial stating the claims are untrue and arguing Kravchenko made them to seek protection abroad after Ukrainian anti‑corruption actions referred to as Operation Carthage.
• Ukrainska Pravda reporters Mykhailo Tkach and Yaroslav Bondarenko were detained in Vienna on Oct. 8 while searching for Kravchenko, and Austrian prosecutors said the arrests were based on eyewitness testimony though espionage suspicions were later not substantiated.
• Kravchenko named two Defence Intelligence (DIU) Artan unit servicemen and commander Viktor Torkotiuk as involved and pointed to parallels with a June explosion in Monaco, but no public evidence has been produced to corroborate those links.
• Investigations and legal steps in Austria and Monaco remain active and unresolved, with outcomes likely to affect extradition prospects, the credibility of claims against anti‑corruption bodies, and the safety and legal status of journalists and the people Kravchenko named.