Protests in Ukraine as Zelensky signs bill targeting anti-corruption bodies
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Protests in Ukraine as Zelensky signs bill targeting anti-corruption bodies
Critics say the new law undermines the authority of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and the Specialised Anti- Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a bill that critics say weakens the independence of the country’s anti-corruption bodies, sparking protests and drawing international criticism, BBC reported.
Critics say the new law undermines the authority of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sapo) – placing them under the control of the prosecutor general.
In an address on Wednesday, Zelensky said both agencies would still “work”, but needed to be cleared of “Russian influence”.
After the bill passed, hundreds of people gathered in Kyiv for the biggest anti-government protest since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to BBC.
Protesters in Ukraine denounce law curbing anticorruption agencies
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a bill that would revoke the autonomy of key anticorruption agencies. Hundreds of protesters rally in Kyiv to oppose the measure, in a show of antigovernment anger rarely seen since Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine. Critics say the legislation consolidates power in the president’s hands and will allow government meddling in high-profile corruption cases. The European Union on Tuesday called the decision a ‘serious step back’ and said it was a betrayal of Ukraine’S decade-long geopolitical ambition.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a bill that would revoke the autonomy of key anticorruption agencies, a plan that has triggered rare street demonstrations in the capital, Kyiv.
Critics say the legislation consolidates power in Zelenskyy’s hands and will allow government meddling in high-profile corruption cases.
The European Union on Tuesday called the decision a “serious step back”, while hundreds gathered in central Kyiv to oppose the measure – a show of antigovernment anger rarely seen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Some demonstrators shouted, “Veto the law!”
“The bill is being rushed through,” 26-year-old game designer Anastasia told the AFP news agency.
“It is clear that this is a targeted effort,” she added.
The bill will grant the prosecutor general new authority over investigations and cases handled by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
NABU investigates instances of corruption among state institutions, while the SAPO prosecutes corruption.
The passage of the bill through parliament drew sharp criticism from the heads of both agencies, and the citizen protests were the largest since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Many influential Ukrainians also lashed out on social media after Tuesday’s vote, saying it was a betrayal of Ukraine’s decade-long geopolitical ambition.
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Fighting corruption is crucial for Ukraine’s bid to join the EU and maintain access to billions of dollars in Western aid. It is also seen as critical to erasing a legacy of Russian rule, a sentiment echoed at the protest in Kyiv.
Vladyslava Kirstyuk, 18, said that memories of her childhood in occupied eastern Ukraine, after Russia’s covert invasion in 2014, left a strong impression on her.
“I know what it means for one person to have all the power, when nothing is transparent and everything is working against you,” the teenager told the Reuters news agency.
“I don’t want it to be the same for us here.”
On Monday, Ukraine’s domestic security agency detained two NABU officials on suspicion of links to Russia and searched other agency employees on unrelated allegations.
NABU has uncovered widespread corruption, including among figures in Zelenskyy’s administration.
Last week, the president carried out a reshuffle of his wartime cabinet, a move widely viewed as further consolidating power within his inner circle.
Zelenskyy approves bill weakening anti-corruption bodies despite big protests
Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedly signs bill weakening Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies. Move puts the president on a collision course with civil society activists and some of its veterans. Critics say the legislation allows political interference and is a major step backwards in the fight against corruption. About 1,500 protesters gathered next to Zelenskiy’s presidential administration complex. They shouted slogans outside his window including “Shame’ and “Veto the law” and waved homemade banners denouncing the bill. There were protests in other large cities including Dnipro, Lviv and Odesa. The bill effectively removes the independence of the national anti- corruption bureau, known as Nabu, and the specialised anti- Corruption prosecutor’’s office. It gives sweeping new powers to the prosecutor general and makes it easier for the government to control which cases are pursued. The European commissioner for enlargement, Marta Kosa, said the bill was a serious step back.
The move on Tuesday puts the president on a collision course with civil society activists and some of its veterans and is likely to dismay Ukraine’s European partners.
Earlier on Tuesday Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed a controversial bill that effectively removes the independence of the national anti-corruption bureau, known as Nabu, and the specialised anti-corruption prosecutor’s office.
It gives sweeping new powers to Ukraine’s prosecutor general and makes it easier for the government to control which cases are pursued. Critics say the legislation allows political interference and is a major step backwards in the fight against corruption.
Late on Tuesday Zelenskyy signed the bill into law, rejecting calls for him to use his presidential veto, according to reports. The decision has yet to be posted on the government’s website.
View image in fullscreen A woman chants while holding a banner that reads ‘Corruption Applauds’ during a protest against a law targeting anti-corruption institutions in central Kyiv on Tuesday. Photograph: Alex Babenko/AP
Earlier, about 1,500 protesters gathered next to Zelenskyy’s presidential administration complex. They shouted slogans outside his window including “Shame” and “Veto the law” and waved homemade banners denouncing the bill.
There were protests in other large cities including Dnipro, Lviv and Odesa. “If the bill goes ahead it will make it harder for Ukraine to join the European Union. We will go back to dictatorship,” said Sasha Kazintseva before Zelenskyy reportedly gave his approval.
“We don’t want to be like Russia. Zelenskyy is still our president. But when he does the wrong things we will say so.”
Her friend Tetiana Kukuruza held up a cardboard sign with the blunt slogan: “Are you fucking crazy?”
She explained: “This is the first time since 2022 that we’ve taken to the streets. We know the names of the deputies who voted for this bill. I’m not saying they are corrupt. But they have interests.”
The protesters gathered in a park immediately below a rococo 19th-century government building, the House of Chimeras. The crowd was made up of students, young activists and army veterans, some of them draped in blue and yellow Ukrainian flags. Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, also took part, together with his brother
Wladimir.
Veronika Mol, an artist, said she worried Ukraine was sliding back to the era of Viktor Yanukovych, the corrupt pro-Russian president who fled to Moscow in 2014 after months of street protests.
“I’m surprised this has happened. It looks like some madness. I don’t know what their motives are,” she said.
“People are the power in Ukraine. Not the president or government. It’s terrible we still have to remind them.”
There has been vocal condemnation of the bill from prominent soldiers, a celebrity chef and Ukraine’s media. The writer Illia Ponomarenko said civil society was fighting “the dark side of its own state” in parallel with the war against Russia.
He criticised “corruption, abuse of power, lies, lack of transparency, nepotism, impunity, and attacks on democracy and freedom of speech – everything that keeps dragging us back toward the abyss, back into Russia’s colonial criminal stable”.
Several of Ukraine’s high-profile international supporters expressed concern. They included the former US ambassador to Moscow Mike McFaul and the Estonian ex-president Toomas Hendrik Ilves. There was also recognition that protesters could freely voice anti-government opinions – unlike in Russia.
Ukraine’s application to join the EU is dependent on the progress it makes in fighting corruption. Since 2022, EU countries have provided Kyiv with significant military and economic support running into billions of euros.
The European commissioner for enlargement, Marta Kos, criticised the bill’s adoption.
“The dismantling of key safeguards protecting [anti-corruption bureau] Nabu’s independence is a serious step back,” Kos wrote on social media, saying that the two bodies were “essential” for Ukraine’s EU path.
Protests in Ukraine as Zelensky signs bill targeting anti-corruption bodies
Protests in Ukraine as Zelensky signs bill targeting anti-corruption bodies. Critics say the new law undermines the authority of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and the Specialised Anti- Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sapo) Hundreds of people gathered in Kyiv for the biggest anti-government protest since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
2 hours ago Share Save Vitaliy Shevchenko Russia editor, BBC Monitoring Share Save
Getty Images Protesters gather in Kyiv after a bill was passed targeting the country’s anti-corruption bodies
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a bill that critics say weakens the independence of the country’s anti-corruption bodies, sparking protests and drawing international criticism. Critics say the new law undermines the authority of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sapo) – placing them under the control of the prosecutor general. In an address on Wednesday, Zelensky said both agencies would still “work”, but needed to be cleared of “Russian influence”. After the bill passed, hundreds of people gathered in Kyiv for the biggest anti-government protest since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Demonstrations were also seen in the cities of Lviv, Dnipro and Odesa. “We chose Europe, not autocracy,” said a poster held by one demonstrator. “My father did not die for this,” said another. Ukraine’s chief prosecutor, Zelensky loyalist Ruslan Kravchenko, will now be able to reassign corruption probes to potentially more pliant investigators, and even to close them. In his address, Zelensky criticised the efficiency of Ukraine’s anti-corruption infrastructure, saying cases had been “lying dormant”. “There is no rational explanation for why criminal proceedings worth billions have been ‘hanging’ for years,” he said. He added that the prosecutor general would ensure “the inevitability of punishment” for those who broke the law.
Reuters
Anti-Zelensky protest in Kyiv as Klitschko brothers join demonstrators
Thousands of people are protesting across Ukraine after Zelensky’s government signed a bill effectively slashing the independence of anti-corruption agencies. The largest public protests in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022 are taking place in Kyiv. The changes mean that agencies at the centre of the government’s reform drive have had their autonomy reduced in favour of tighter executive control. The mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, attended the protest with his brother, and fellow former heavyweight boxing champion, Wladimir. The vote has drawn sharp criticism from the heads of both agencies and a leading EU official. The two agencies work during the war levelling charges against politicians, and have been charged with evading military service. A Western diplomat described the developments as “the most dangerous moment yet for the anti- Corruption authorities’ independence’. The government has also faced criticism for rejecting the candidacy of an economic security chief and current NABU detective who was backed by an internationally supervised committee. It came a day after Kyiv’s domestic security agency arrested two NABu officials on suspicion of ties to Russia.
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The largest public protests in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022 are taking place in Kyiv after President Zelensky and his government toughened restrictions on two anti-corruption agencies.
The changes signed into effect by Zelensky late on Tuesday night mean that agencies at the centre of the government’s reform drive have had their autonomy reduced in favour of tighter executive control.
Amendments passed on Tuesday grant the general prosecutor, appointed by the president, strict control over the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, several politicians said.
Stamping out endemic corruption is a requirement for Kyiv to join the European Union as well as to secure billions in Western aid. Independent investigators have in recent months embarrassed senior officials with allegations of corruption.
Many influential Ukrainians lashed out on social media after Tuesday’s vote, saying it was a betrayal of Ukraine’s decade-long geopolitical ambition.
The mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, attended the protest with his brother, and fellow former heavyweight boxing champion, Wladimir.
Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko and his brother Volodymyr are joining the protests in central Kyiv against parliament’s move to strip key anti-corruption bodies of their independence. — Kyiv Post (@kyivpost.com) 2025-07-22T19:21:05.703Z
Fighting corruption is seen as critical to erasing a legacy of Russian rule, a sentiment echoed at the protest.
Vladyslava Kirstyuk, 18, told the news agency Reuters that memories of her childhood in occupied eastern Ukraine, after Russia’s covert invasion in 2014, left a strong impression on her.
“I know what it means for one person to have all the power, when nothing is transparent and everything is working against you,” she said.
“I don’t want it to be the same for us here.”
The vote has drawn sharp criticism from the heads of both agencies and a leading EU official. It came a day after Kyiv’s domestic security agency arrested two NABU officials on suspicion of ties to Russia and conducted sweeping searches into agency employees on other grounds. Critics and the two agencies said the crackdown went too far.
No senior official has publicly commented on the reason for Tuesday’s amendments, which would allow the general prosecutor to transfer cases from the agencies and reassign prosecutors.
President Zelensky, whose party holds a majority in parliament, approved the amendments late on Tuesday. His office did not respond to an earlier request for comment.
NABU chief Semen Kryvonos had urged Zelensky not to sign the fast-tracked bill, which he described as an attempt to “destroy” Ukraine’s anti-corruption infrastructure. After Tuesday’s vote, Ukraine’s government bonds fell more than 2 per cent on international markets, with the bulk of the $20 billion of debt it restructured last year down over 1 cent at between 45 and 50 cents on the dollar.
A woman holds a phone with a sign that translates as “veto” during the protest (Photo credit: AP Photo/Alex Babenko)
Hundreds of Ukrainians protested near the presidential administration in central Kyiv late on Tuesday, with smaller actions taking place in several other cities.
Writing on X, EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos said she was “seriously concerned” by Tuesday’s vote.
“The dismantling of key safeguards protecting NABU’s independence is a serious step back,” she said, adding that the rule of law was at “the very centre” of accession talks.
NABU and SAPO were established after the 2014 Maidan revolution that toppled a pro-Russian president and set Kyiv on a Western course. The two agencies have stepped up their work during the war, levelling charges against politicians, ministers, and a former deputy head of Zelenskiy’s administration.
Campaigners have been alarmed since authorities charged a leading anti-corruption activist this month with fraud and evading military service.
Critics have cast those charges as political retribution for exposing corrupt officials.
The government has also faced criticism for rejecting the candidacy of an economic security chief and current NABU detective who was unanimously backed by an internationally supervised committee.
A Western diplomat familiar with Ukraine’s reform effort described the developments as “the most dangerous moment” yet for the independence of anti-corruption authorities.
“The Ukrainian side is testing the limits more and more,” they said, referring to the patience of Kyiv’s allies.
Additional reporting by Reuters