Ruslan Kravchenko lost his seat on the Ukrainian Security Council
The former Ukrainian prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko was removed from three positions within a few weeks and has left Ukraine
With Presidential Decree No. 970/2026 of September 28, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky removed his former Attorney General Ruslan Kravchenko from the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (RNBO).
The decree came into force upon its publication and was confirmed on the council's official website.
Complete loss of office in just a few weeks
The removal from the RNBO is the preliminary final step in a series of formal removals from power. On September 14, Kravchenko was suspended from the office of Prosecutor General by decree No. 905/2026, and one day later he permanently lost the position by parliamentary resolution. According to reports from Ukrainian media, on September 21 he additionally left the prosecutor's office as a regular employee.
With the RNBO exclusion on September 28, he now also loses his seat in the body that coordinates Ukraine's security and defense policy decisions.
The decree itself provides no justification. It merely formally establishes that Kravchenko is leaving the council. According to Ukrainian media reports, the background to this development is an official business trip by Kravchenko, from which he did not return to his workplace after its official end on September 18. An internal investigation has since been initiated into the circumstances of this trip.
Vienna as a possible place of residence
At the center of attention is the question about Kravchenko's current whereabouts.
Some reports point to a possible stay in Vienna during and also after his official business trip. An inquiry to Vienna law firms is now intended to clarify who represents him and what legal status Kravchenko currently has in Austria, for example with regard to residence permits or pending proceedings.
Should Kravchenko actually be staying in Vienna, Austria would be directly involved in a sensitive matter that carries great weight both domestically in Kyiv and for Brussels' assessment of Ukraine's judicial reform.
Link:
Decree of the Ukrainian President 970/2026