People's Deputy Vlasenko: Kryvonos should have resigned after the scandal - that's what they do in any normal country

People's Deputy from the "Batkivshchyna" faction, head of the Verkhovna Rada's Temporary Investigative Commission, including on issues of investigating corruption in law enforcement agencies, Serhiy Vlasenko stated that NABU Director Semen Kryvonos should have resigned after public accusations regarding the circumstances of his fictitious adoption of a child in 2009. Vlasenko stated this on the air of "Dumai" with Olena Duma, former head of the Agency for Identification, Search and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA), reports UNN. 

"In any normal country, after such accusations, a person writes a resignation letter and leaves their job," the People's Deputy said.

According to Vlasenko, Kryvonos's tenure as NABU Director does not align with the practices of democratic countries, where high-ranking officials assume political responsibility after the emergence of such reputational scandals. Recall that NABU Director Semen Kryvonos became the subject of a high-profile scandal after the publication of information about events in 2009. At that time, the court found him guilty in a case of voter bribery. However, he received amnesty, in part due to providing the court with information about supporting a minor child whom he had fictitiously adopted through an acquaintance. The amnesty allowed him to avoid actual punishment for a corruption crime. Once the threat of criminal punishment passed, Kryvonos initiated a court process to renounce paternity based on a DNA test.

In the spring of 2026, former People's Deputy Boryslav Bereza published an interview with Svitlana Khomchenko, the boy's mother, who confirmed that Kryvonos's paternity was indeed of a fictitious nature.

Semen Kryvonos himself has not publicly commented on these accusations. Semen Kryvonos has headed NABU since March 2023. He was appointed based on the results of a competition involving international experts Drago Kos, brother of EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, as well as Povilas Malakauskas and Karen Greenway. At the same time, Greenway did not support the final list of candidates that included Kryvonos. During the competitive selection process, he was deemed to meet the integrity criteria.