Despite protests in major cities, Zelensky signs controversial law stripping Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies of independence

In Kyiv and several other Ukrainian cities, hundreds of people took to the streets on Tuesday in protest against legislation that effectively strips the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) of their independence.

In Kyiv, protesters gathered near the Ivan Franko Drama Theater, responding to a call from war veteran Dmytro Koziatynskyi. “Friends, let’s gather for a demonstration and defend what we have built over the past decade,” he wrote on social media, adding that the square near the theater was the closest protesters could get to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office. Koziatynskyi stressed that he was appealing first and foremost to “ordinary concerned citizens” and explicitly asked political parties and politicians to stay away.

According to estimates by the media outlets Ukrainska Pravda and Hromadske, several hundred people gathered in Kyiv. The news agency UNIAN reported an attendance of 1,000 people. Demonstrations also took place in Odesa, Lviv, and Dnipro.

Protesters demanded that President Zelensky veto the bill, chanting slogans such as “Hands off NABU!,” “Shame!,” and “Defend democratic institutions!” Some demonstrators also directly criticized the Zelensky administration. 

Later on Tuesday, the legislation’s status shifted several times on the Ukrainian Parliament’s official website, swinging from “signed by President Zelensky” to “sent for presidential signature.” By the end of the night, the legislation was officially listed as signed by the president. 

In a post on his Telegram channel, Zelensky defended the law as a necessary measure against “Russian influences.” “Everything must be cleansed of this,” the president argued.

Bill No. 12414 effectively subordinates NABU and SAPO to the Prosecutor General’s office and strips them of their independence. Now the law of the land, the legislation gives the Prosecutor General’s office access to all NABU cases and the authority to issue mandatory written instructions to NABU detectives. It also grants the power to close investigations upon defense request, settle jurisdictional disputes unilaterally, and requisition case materials for reassignment.