Ukraine

Yesterday, the head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Prosecutor's Office, today the acting Prosecutor General. Against the backdrop of the scandalous resignation of Ruslan Kravchenko, the president appointed Anton Kovalskyi as the new acting Prosecutor General. He received powers under a special mechanism provided by law for the period of martial law. What is known about Anton Kovalskyi, what assets he declares, and what positions he held in the past—watch further or read on the "Ukrainska Pravda" website.

Anton Kovalskyi is originally from Vinnytsia. His career began in 2011. At that time, he became a senior investigator in the Vinnytsia Regional Prosecutor's Office. Later, he held leadership positions in the department. From September 2020 to October 2021, he worked as the deputy head of the Vinnytsia Regional Prosecutor's Office. Since November 2021, he headed the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor's Office. Under Kovalskyi's leadership, the team had a priority task—to fight smuggling. During the year, 12 criminal schemes were successfully stopped in the region bordering Romania and Moldova.

Kovalskyi became the head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Prosecutor's Office in July 2025, a few months after a huge scandal in the region. As a reminder, at that time, the head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Medical and Social Expert Commission, Tetiana Krupa, was suspected of illegally arranging disability status for her husband. After Krupa's detention and the start of inspections, information appeared in the media that 49 prosecutors in the Khmelnytskyi region have the status of people with disabilities. Oleksii Oliynyk, who headed the regional prosecutor's office, was immediately suspended from his position.

As a result of the scandal, mass layoffs began. 25 prosecutors were removed from administrative positions, and another 20 from the prosecutor's offices. 38 complaints regarding possible violations during the arrangement of disability status were sent to the disciplinary commission. It sounds radical, but later, some of the scandalous individuals were able to easily return to vacant jobs. Some prosecutors may have had their disability group changed to a lower one, but not canceled. Allegedly, it was not confirmed that the disability status had been bought.

Simultaneously, in internal investigations, the prosecutor's office stated that there is no evidence that prosecutors abused their positions to obtain a decision from the MSEK regarding disability. There were also cases where prosecutors challenged decisions to cancel disability status in court. As of May 1926, 18 prosecutors achieved a corresponding court decision.

We emphasize that at this time, the regional prosecutor's office was already headed by Kovalskyi. After his appointment to the Khmelnytskyi Regional Prosecutor's Office, he commented on the scandal, emphasizing that the department's staff is very professional. However, as unfortunate as it is, the story with the disabilities indeed left a significant stain on all these results and effectively negated them in the eyes of the public.

Thus, the new acting Prosecutor General has experience in managing a department that has survived a loud scandal. Now he will have to use it in his new position. According to sources from "Dzerkalo Tyzhnia", the new appointment of Kovalskyi was influenced by Chernivtsi businessman Illia Pavliuk. He is the informal curator of the so-called Pavliuk group in the "Servant of the People" faction.

By the way, Pavliuk has been close to Volodymyr Zelenskyy since 2018, when the presidential candidate was preparing for the first elections. He was involved in regional headquarters, searching for candidates, and funding the campaign. And after the elections, he formed his own group of deputies in parliament. The Chernivtsi businessman did not hold a government position, but, according to UP, representatives of the Bankova and the president himself communicated with him directly after the elections regarding important votes.

Read more in our material. It is assumed that a connection between Kovalskyi and Pavliuk is possible through the former Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Mustets. The publication notes that Pavliuk's people tried to install Mustets as Deputy Prosecutor General back in the time of Ruslan Ryaboshapka. But the then-Prosecutor General categorically refused the "smuggling specialist", sources say.

The publication's sources call Kovalskyi a protégé of Mustets, who guided him up the career ladder. When the former headed the Khmelnytskyi Regional Prosecutor's Office, the latter was still the Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine. At the same time, they say briefly about Kovalskyi himself—he is not particularly stained anywhere, but has not distinguished himself in anything particular.

Among the people who were Kovalskyi's subordinates in the Khmelnytskyi prosecutor's office, there are at least two whose actions and behavior caused resonance in the media.

The first is Maksym Kuterha. In January 1926, Hromadske published an investigation regarding the insane wealth of Kovalskyi's deputy. In particular, his newlywed wife Anastasia acquired a plot of land in 1924—with an area of 6.5 sotkas in the premium-class cottage town Piedmont-Eco-Village in the village of Pidhirtsi in the Kyiv region. According to the publication, the plot officially cost almost 240 thousand hryvnias. Later, 170 square meters of elite real estate were built on the site. In his declaration, Kuterha specified neither the area nor the value of the plot. Allegedly, the family member did not provide the information.

Also, Kuterha's wife acquired a 2019 Porsche in '24. Its value is hidden in the declaration, but as of January '26, Anastasia was selling this car for 64 thousand dollars. There is much more interesting in this story. For example, Maksym Kuterha's mother-in-law, who worked as a pharmacy manager and never had a business, acquired three real estate objects. At the same time, his father-in-law fled to Russia back in '21 and was sentenced in absentia to eight years of imprisonment for collaborationism.

There was no reaction from Kovalskyi to the investigation regarding his subordinate.

The second subordinate is Anton Vendel. Everything with this Khmelnytskyi prosecutor is somewhat simpler, but more curious. In January '26, he sent intimate messages to employees of the Khmelnytskyi City District Court. The women filed complaints with the Prosecutor General, after which the department began to investigate the circumstances. As it turned out, Vendel created an account on the OnlyFans platform under the pseudonym Adonis, where he published explicit content. And most interestingly—he filmed it right in the official office of the prosecutor's office.

Kovalskyi's reaction to the scandal was ambiguous. He did not

fired Wendel and transferred him to the Letychiv District Prosecutor's Office. And only after court employees began demanding his final dismissal from the prosecutor's office was Kovalsky forced to give in. And what is in the declaration of the new head of the Office of the Prosecutor General? At first glance, it looks quite modest, but if you look at the list of his relatives' assets, everything is somewhat different. Regarding real estate, the declaration states that the Kovalsky family rents two apartments – since '23 in Chernivtsi with an area of 92 square meters and since '25 in Khmelnytskyi – 135 square meters. An apartment provided to Kovalsky for use by the Chernivtsi City Council from January 27, '25, in connection with his registration, is also recorded. But here is an interesting point – as early as July '25, Kovalsky moved to Khmelnytskyi, as he received a new position. UP contacted the city council requesting an explanation of whether this apartment is a service apartment and whether Kovalsky still has the right to use it. We are currently awaiting a response. In declarations from 2018 to '23, Kovalsky indicated the use of another apartment – with an area of 79 square meters in Vinnytsia. The owner of the housing at that time was his mother, who worked in a psychoneurological hospital. In 2019, her income amounted to 51 thousand hryvnias. Kovalsky also indicates in the declarations the rental of two premises – for the retail sale of sports nutrition in Vinnytsia. This business is managed by his wife, Oksana. In March '23, she became a Sole Proprietorship (FOP) and earned 5.2 million hryvnias in the first incomplete year. If the declaration is to be believed, it was possible to earn over 500 thousand hryvnias per month from the sale of sports nutrition. In his declaration, Kovalsky listed only one car, which is owned by his wife – a 2019 Nissan Qashqai. The cost of the car at the time of purchase was 690 thousand hryvnias. Back in 2018, he declared the use of a 2011 Volkswagen Polo 1.6. Its owner was his brother, Hennadiy Kovalsky. In addition, for the year '25, Kovalsky received an income totaling over 2.5 million hryvnias. Meanwhile, his wife earned over 3.5 million hryvnias from entrepreneurship. Kovalsky in the position of Acting Prosecutor General is another example of the pressing issue in Ukraine regarding the mechanism for appointing the head. The personnel dilemma surrounding the office of the Prosecutor General has dragged on for years. No Prosecutor General whose candidacy was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada by Zelensky and supported by deputies was able to remain in office for the six-year term provided by law. The European Commission recommended that Ukraine change the selection procedure for the Prosecutor General. They emphasize that candidates should be chosen more objectively and transparently, based on professional qualities. Whether Ukraine will listen is an open question. Currently, bill No. 15343 is registered in parliament, which proposes involving international experts in the competition for the selection of the Prosecutor General. Thank you if you watched until this point. Don't forget to like this video and subscribe to the channel. This is the best contribution to the development of independent journalism.