Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has defended his approval of a contentious bill that weakens Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies.
This came as its passage into law triggered the first serious protests against his government.
On Tuesday, July 22, 2025, Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed a controversial bill that effectively removes the independence of two key anti-corruption agencies; the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
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 that 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.
The move on has put the Ukrainian President on a collision course with civil society activists and some of Ukraine’s veterans, and is likely to dismay Ukraine’s European partners.
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
Prior to Zelenskyy’s move, about 1,500 protesters gathered next to his presidential administration complex to urge the President to veto a controversial bill
They shouted slogans outside his window including “Shame” and “Veto the law” and waved homemade banners denouncing the bill.
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.
There were protests in other large cities including Dnipro, Lviv and Odesa. It marked the first major rally against the government in more than three years of war.
In his nightly video address, issued well after midnight, Zelenskyy said that he had spoken with the NABU Chief, Semen Kryvonos, and other top prosecutors.
He added that Anti-corruption bodies would continue to function “but without any Russian influence,” adding, “It all must be cleansed.”
“There must be more justice. Of course, NABU and SAPO will continue their work. It’s also important that the prosecutor general be committed to ensuring real accountability for those who break the law. This is what Ukraine truly needs.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
The European Commissioner for enlargement, Marta Kos, criticised the bill’s adoption.
He noted on social media that the dismantling of key safeguards protecting NABU’s independence is a “serious step back,” saying that the two bodies were “essential” for Ukraine’s EU path.
Bill’s Passage Triggers Public Outrage In Ukraine
There was vocal condemnation of the bill from prominent soldiers, a celebrity chef and Ukraine’s media.
The writer Illia Ponomarenko said that 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.
Some protesters accused Ukraine’s leadership of prioritizing loyalty and personal connections over the fight against corruption.
Veteran Oleh Symoroz, sitting in a wheelchair because both his legs were amputated after he was wounded in 2022, said that those who swore to protect the laws and the Constitution “have instead chosen to shield their inner circle, even at the expense of Ukrainian democracy.”
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