Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Thursday, July 24, 2025, that he’s sending a new anti-corruption bill to Ukraine’s Parliament.

This was in a further attempt to defuse tensions after he approved changes to graft laws that brought a public outcry and sharp criticism from the European Union.

Opponents of the contentious law passed by lawmakers and approved by Zelenskyy earlier this week said that it stripped Ukraine’s anti-corruption watchdogs of their independence by granting the government more oversight of their work.

Zelenskyy said that it was needed to speed up investigations, ensure more convictions and remove “Russian influence” from the fight against corruption, though he didn’t provide examples of Russian meddling.

In an abrupt change of course on Thursday, Zelenskyy unexpectedly said that he had drawn up a new draft bill on corruption that “guarantees the real strengthening of the law and order system in Ukraine.”

Zelenskyy said that the new bill was intended to safeguard the independence of Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) and to protect them from Russian influence. He said the text of the bill was “balanced.”

“The most important thing is real tools, no Russian connections, and the independence of the (watchdogs).”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy

The declaration appeared to bow to recent pressure that threatened to undermine public trust in Ukraine’s leaders after more than three years of fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The protests haven’t called for Zelenskyy’s ouster, but they are the first major anti-government demonstrations since the war began. “It is important that we maintain unity,” Zelenskyy said in his post. The announcement also left some questions unanswered.

Zelenskyy had said on Wednesday that he met with the heads of Ukraine’s key anti-corruption and security agencies and gave them two weeks to make recommendations on how the graft law could be improved before he presented another bill to Parliament. It’s unclear what becomes of that effort to seek their input.

NABU and SAPO were created in 2014-15 as one of the requirements set by the European Commission and International Monetary Fund to move towards a relaxation of visa restrictions between Ukraine and the EU.

Ukraine has official EU candidate status and a spokesman for European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen previously warned Kyiv that the rule of law and the fight against corruption were “core elements” of membership to the bloc.

On Thursday, the Commission said that it “welcomed” the Ukrainian government’s decision to take action against the bill. The Spokesman said, “We are working [with the Ukrainian government] to make sure that our concerns… are indeed taken into account.”

Street Protests Scheduled

download 6 — Women chant during protest.

Despite that assurance of new legislation, further street protests were scheduled for Thursday evening.

The new pronouncement also left unclear whether Zelenskyy intended to revoke the law that he approved earlier in the week after Parliament had passed it. He didn’t publicize details about the proposed new law.

In his message, Zelensky did not acknowledge the protests or the backlash but said that it was “important that we respect the position of all Ukrainians and are grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine.”

The unrest has come at a difficult time in the all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. Russia’s bigger army is accelerating its efforts to pierce Ukraine’s front-line defenses and is escalating its bombardment of Ukrainian cities.

Ukraine is also facing a question mark over whether the United States will provide more military aid and whether European commitments can take up the slack, with no end in sight to the war.

Fighting entrenched corruption is crucial for Ukraine’s aspirations to join the EU and maintain access to billions of dollars in Western aid in the war. It’s also an effort that enjoys broad public support.