Thousands march in Ukraine after Zelensky curbs top anti-corruption agencies

Thousands are marching across Ukraine for the first time since Russia’s invasion to protest President Volodymyr Zelensky after he signed a bill to curb the country’s top anti-corruption agencies.

The controversial move allows a politically appointed prosecutor general to have more power over Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), threatening the independence of the two agencies tasked with weeding out decades of corruption in Kyiv.

Critics have now taken to the streets to protest the bill, which may even threaten the people’s dream of joining the European Union.

Zelensky, who has enjoyed popular support since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, is facing his first wartime protest at home after the bill was fast-tracked through parliament and presented before him on Tuesday night.

The president has defended the move as a necessary step to rid the two agencies of “Russian influence” and to address why some cases have been stalled for years.

“There is no rational explanation why criminal proceedings worth billions have been ‘hanging’ for years,” Zelensky said in a statement. “And there is no explanation why the Russians can still get the information they need.”

The approval of the law came following federal raids against NABU employees and an investigation into SAPO’s handling of state secrets, with two people arrested on Monday over “suspicion of working for Russian special services.”

Opponents, however, slammed the bill’s passage as a way of putting political pressure on what should be independent agencies that targeted some of Zelensky’s close allies, including former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov.

Critics have previously accused Zelensky of refusing to face the alleged corruption going on inside his inner circle, which opponents say has hurt Kyiv’s ability to fight back against the Russian invasion.

The move also earned backlash from Marta Kos, the EU’s commissioner for enlargement, who said she was “seriously concerned” and warned that restricting the anti-corruption agencies would only hurt Ukraine’s chances of joining the bloc.

“The dismantling of key safeguards protecting NABU’s independence is a serious step back,” she wrote on X.

“Independent bodies like NABU & SAPO, are essential for [Ukraine]’s EU path. Rule of Law remains in the very center of EU accession negotiations,” she added.

Ukraine’s history with widespread corruption has been one of the reasons why the country has not been accepted into the EU and NATO.

NABU and SAPO were established following Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity in 2014, which saw leaders promise the public to weed out corruption in Kyiv after ousting pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.

NABU is in charge of investigating corruption allegations, with SAPO tasked with prosecuting the cases once enough evidence is gathered.

Zelensky said his administration will be holding a meeting next week to form an action plan on how the two agencies will be moving forward, insisting that they will be allowed to act in a method that ensures “justice and the effectiveness.”