Ukrainians protest in the first wartime rally against a newly passed law, which curbs independence of anti-corruption institutions, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine July 23, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

BRUSSELS, July 24 (Reuters) – The European Union welcomed Ukraine’s pledge to protect the independence of its anti-corruption agencies and said on Thursday that a commitment to fight corruption is an important precondition both for EU financial aid as well as for potential EU membership.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed on Wednesday to retain the independence of anti-corruption agencies, bowing to pressure from the first wartime street protests since Russia invaded the country in February 2022 and rare rebukes from European allies.

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“We welcome the fact that the Ukrainian government is taking action, and we work with them to make sure that our concerns, which have been clearly explained yesterday and the day before yesterday, are indeed taken into account,” an EU spokesperson told reporters in response to questions.

Zelenskiy said he would submit a new bill to ensure the rule of law and retain the independence of the anti-corruption agencies.

The EU spokesperson said that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had spoken to Zelenskiy about the issue but provided no further detail.

“We work with them to make sure that these concerns regarding the fight against corruption, which is an extremely important priority for us and for Ukraine, are indeed correctly addressed,” the spokesperson said.

“We provide significant financial support to Ukraine and this is conditional to progress and transparency, judicial reform and democratic governance,” an EU spokesperson said.

He added that in light of potential EU accession, Ukraine needs to have a strong capacity to combat corruption and to have the institutions to do so, and that these institutions must be independent.

Reporting by Andrew Gray and GV De Clercq; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten

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Summary Thousands take to the streets in second day of protests

Law prompted rare harsh criticism from European allies

Zelenskiy acknowledges uproar: ‘We hear society’

KYIV, July 23 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed on Wednesday to retain the independence of anti-corruption agencies, bowing to pressure from the first wartime street protests and rare rebukes from European allies.

For a second day in a row, thousands of people across the country – from Kharkiv in the northeast to the capital Kyiv to Lviv in the west – took to the streets demanding reversal of the law curbing the independence of anti-graft agencies.

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In his evening address to the nation on Wednesday, Zelenskiy said he would submit a new bill to ensure the rule of law and retain the independence of the anti-corruption agencies.

“Of course, everyone has heard what people are saying these days… on social media, to each other, on the streets. It’s not falling on deaf ears,” Zelenskiy said.

Thousands of people turned up for a second day of protests in central Kyiv, close to Zelenskiy’s office.

In the first such demonstrations of the war, the youth, activists, and war veterans chanted ‘Shame’ and ‘Veto the Law’.

“It’s like a knife in the back, to be honest,” Maryna Mykhalchuk, 26, who has friends killed in the war and plans to join the army soon, told Reuters.

Opposition lawmakers and European officials also called for reversal of the law, which Zelenskiy signed overnight.

The law gives the Prosecutor General appointed by Zelenskiy more power over two investigative anti-corruption agencies. It was rushed through parliament on Tuesday, a day after the security services arrested two anti-corruption officials for suspected Russian ties.

In a joint statement, both agencies – the anti-corruption bureau NABU and the specialised prosecutors SAPO – said they wanted their independence restored through legislation.

Parliament is expected to hold an emergency session next week to consider the new draft bill from Zelenskiy’s office, several lawmakers said.

Item 1 of 4 Ukrainians protest in the first wartime rally against a newly passed law, which curbs independence of anti-corruption institutions, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine July 23, 2025. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova [1/4] Ukrainians protest in the first wartime rally against a newly passed law, which curbs independence of anti-corruption institutions, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine July 23, 2025. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

STRONGEST CRITICISM SINCE THE WAR BEGAN

The law prompted some of Ukraine’s European allies to deliver their strongest criticism of Zelenskiy’s government since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed her strong concern to Zelenskiy and asked for an explanation, said the spokesman.

The law’s critics say the government appears to be trying to rein in anti-corruption agencies to protect officials.

After decades of endemic corruption in Ukraine, cleaning up its government has been held up as the key condition for the country to join the EU, tap billions of dollars in foreign aid, and integrate more broadly with the West.

The issue risks antagonising Kyiv’s most loyal allies at a time when it is trying to smooth over the relationship with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has frequently criticised Zelenskiy.

“Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions are vital to its reform path. Restricting them would be a significant setback,” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said in a post on X.

Benjamin Haddad, France’s European Affairs minister, said it was not too late to reverse the decision.

Ukrainian political analysts said the legislation risked undermining society’s trust in Zelenskiy during a critical stage of the war against Russia.

Fierce fighting rages along more than 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) of the frontline. Russian troops continue their grinding advance in the east and have stepped up near daily attacks on Ukrainian cities with hundreds of drones.

Hundreds of protesters, some clad in military uniforms, in the city of Zaporizhzhia, close to the frontline in the southeast, demanded overturning the law with chants of “Ukraine is not Russia.” Similar rallies took place in other major cities across the country.

The public’s European aspirations are vital to sustaining the war effort, said Valerii Pekar, a Kyiv-based analyst: “Only democracy and the European choice give us a chance to win,” he posted on Facebook.

Additional reporting by Anastasiia Malenko; Editing by David Gregorio

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A view shows an apartment building hit by Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine July 24, 2025. REUTERS/Nina Liashonok Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

Item 1 of 3 A view shows an apartment building hit by Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine July 24, 2025. REUTERS/Nina Liashonok

Summary Air attacks resume quickly after direct talks

Prisoner exchange discussed but no ceasefire moves

Woman killed by falling drone in Russia

At least 11 people injured across Ukraine

July 24 (Reuters) – Ukraine and Russia launched air attacks along each other’s Black Sea coasts early on Thursday, hours after brief direct talks between them failed to make any progress on steps to end nearly three-and-a-half years of war

Russian forces staged the latest in a series of mass drone attacks on Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa, injuring at least four people and causing several fires as well as damage in the historic centre, a UNESCO world heritage site.

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The famous Pryvoz market in Odesa was among the places hit, Regional Governor Oleh Kiper said. “It is not just a place of trade, it is the living heart of Odesa,” he added.

On Thursday morning, some residents were cleaning up shattered glass in the streets nearby.

“So what if the (drones) are flying? We will shoot them down; they will not break us,” Yevhen, a 20-year-old student among those helping with the cleanup, told Reuters.

Emergency officials in Russia’s Krasnodar region on the Black Sea said debris from a falling drone struck and killed a woman in the Adler district near the resort city of Sochi. A second woman was being treated in hospital for serious injuries, they said on the Telegram messaging app.

The administrative head of the Sirius federal district south of Sochi said a drone hit an oil base, giving no further details. Russia’s aviation authority said operations were suspended at Sochi airport for about four hours.

Russia also attacked the central region of Cherkasy overnight, injuring seven people, including a nine-year-old, and damaging more than a dozen residential apartment buildings.

Negotiators had earlier discussed further prisoner swaps at a brief session of peace talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul, but they remained far apart on ceasefire terms and a possible meeting of their leaders.

“Yesterday, at a meeting in Istanbul, the Russian side was again presented with a proposal to immediately and completely cease fire. In response, Russian drones are striking residential buildings,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.

He said Russia had launched 103 drones and four missiles during its overnight attack, which deputy prime minister Oleskiy Kuleba said struck civilian infrastructure, including seaports, transport hubs, and residential areas.

Russian forces have in recent weeks intensified drone attacks on towns and cities far from the 1,000 km (620-mile) frontline across eastern and southern Ukraine.

Ukraine’s military has been targeting energy and military sites in Russia in response to concerted Russian attacks which have destroyed towns and cities and devastated its energy infrastructure.

Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Philippa Fletcher

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Ukraine and Russia launched fresh airstrikes along the Black Sea early Thursday, shortly after peace talks in Istanbul failed to yield progress.

Russian drones hit Odesa, injuring four and damaging the city’s historic center, including the Pryvoz market. In Russia’s Sochi region, falling drone debris killed one woman and injured another, and briefly shut down the airport after a strike on an oil facility, according to Reuters.

Ukraine’s Cherkasy region was also hit, with seven injured, including a child. Ukrainian President Zelensky said Russia responded to ceasefire proposals with more drone and missile attacks, targeting civilian and transport sites.

A general view of the reception camp, as migrants who were intercepted at sea and later detained at a reception facility in Albania are transferred to Italy after a court in Rome overturned their detention orders, in Shengjin, Albania, October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Florion Goga/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

ROME, July 24 (Reuters) – The migrant detention hub Italy has set up in Albania has cost seven times more than an equivalent facility back home, a study by the ActionAid Italy charity and the University of Bari said on Thursday.

The Italian interior ministry declined to comment on the report.

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Conservative Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni sees the facilities set up in Albania as a cornerstone of her tough immigration policies, and other European countries have looked to them as a possible model.

The scheme was launched last year but almost immediately put on hold as Italian courts repeatedly ordered the return to Italy of migrants picked up at sea and taken to Albania, citing issues with European Union law. The bloc’s top court has yet to give its opinion on the issue.

According to the report, Italy’s government awarded contracts worth 74.2 million euros ($87 million) to build the Albanian detention facilities. It spent more than 153,000 euros for each operational bed space in Albania, the report estimated.

By comparison, an asylum seekers’ detention facility in Sicily’s Porto Empedocle cost around 1 million euros for 50 operational bed spaces, or just over 21,000 euros per bed, ActionAid and the University of Bari found.

“The Albania operation stands out as the most expensive, inhumane, and ineffective measure in the history of Italian migration policy,” their report said.

It also reported that Italy last year paid some 570,000 euros ($670,000) to a cooperative that runs the Albanian centre, despite it being operational for just five days to host a total of 20 migrants.

In response to judicial opposition, this year Meloni’s government said it would turn the Albanian hub into a repatriation facility for failed asylum seekers expelled from Italy, rather than a holding centre for migrants rescued in the Mediterranean.

Italy’s main opposition force, the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), seized on Thursday’s report to denounce a waste of public resources.

“Giorgia Meloni must apologise to Italians, because the figures regarding the costs of her illegal Albania operation are an insult even to the millions of people who are currently struggling to get by,” said PD leader Elly Schlein.

($1 = 0.8510 euros)

Reporting by Angelo Amante and Alvise Armellini, editing by Keith Weir and Toby Chopra

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