![](https://i.imgur.com/CLvY2jA.png")
23-07-2025, 10:20 PM
Zelensky signed the bill into law on the evening of July 22, as shown on the Parliament's website.
Last week, we warned of a coming anti-democratic backslide. Now, we see it happening. A parliamentary vote, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s lawmakers, today took away the independence of Ukraine’s key anti-corruption bodies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). He signed it into law the same day. Under new law, prosecutor general, a notoriously non-independent figure, will now oversee anti-corruption investigations — in a complete overturn of the system was set up ne independent from other law enforcement bodies.
In reality, it means that Zelensky’s office will be able to stop investigations with a phone call, move isn’t isolated incident, it part of a massive crackdown. The vote in parliament followed unprecedented wave of raids on dozens of NABU officers’ homes the day be4, where pretexts for searches ranged from drug trafficking accusations to car accidents from four years ago. The NABU chief said some searches got violent. A local media outlet reported officers forced open a NABU detective’s eyes to unlock his phone, set on face recognition. It also closely follows an escalated prosecution of Ukraine’s best-known anti-corruption activist, an outspoken critic of Zelensky.
This crackdown is being carried out by law enforcement agencies, lawmakers, and people controlled by President Zelensky. There is no second-guessing who is responsible for this.
President Zelensky is making a choice to undermine Ukrainian democratic institutions in pursuit of expanding his personal power. Why do it now?. The attacked anti-corruption agencies have been a nuisance for political elite — as they should be. They have investigated Zelensky’s party’s lawmakers & the president’s close associates, just weeks ago, they went after his personal friend, then-Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, making him a suspect in a land grab case. There is talk other close associates of Zelensky that detectives were investigating. In other words, they were doing exactly what they were set up for: independently investigating top-level corruption. It’s worth remembering that Ukraine’s anti-corruption infrastructure was set up in the years following the 2013-2014 EuroMaidan Revolution. It was one of the wins of democratic, pro-Western movement that overthrew the corrupt pro-Russian president. Over 100 protesters were killed before the revolution prevailed.
It took lives of those protesters, & years of work followed, to set up independent anti-corruption infrastructure in Ukraine — a major achievement for the young democracy. Now, President Zelensky is seeking to dismantle it to protect his associates and expand his power. The backdrop of the war is hugely helpful for this matter. Under martial law, there are no elections, and perhaps more importantly, there have been no mass street protests. Many of the most politically active Ukrainians, patriotic & uncompromising, are serving on the front lines or have been killed fighting. (The first anti-govt protests since the start of the war are taking place right now, as we are running this editorial — they are a reaction to today’s vote, & have likely slowed down Zelensky’s signing of the bill.)
Last week, we warned of a coming anti-democratic backslide. Now, we see it happening. A parliamentary vote, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s lawmakers, today took away the independence of Ukraine’s key anti-corruption bodies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). He signed it into law the same day. Under new law, prosecutor general, a notoriously non-independent figure, will now oversee anti-corruption investigations — in a complete overturn of the system was set up ne independent from other law enforcement bodies.
In reality, it means that Zelensky’s office will be able to stop investigations with a phone call, move isn’t isolated incident, it part of a massive crackdown. The vote in parliament followed unprecedented wave of raids on dozens of NABU officers’ homes the day be4, where pretexts for searches ranged from drug trafficking accusations to car accidents from four years ago. The NABU chief said some searches got violent. A local media outlet reported officers forced open a NABU detective’s eyes to unlock his phone, set on face recognition. It also closely follows an escalated prosecution of Ukraine’s best-known anti-corruption activist, an outspoken critic of Zelensky.
This crackdown is being carried out by law enforcement agencies, lawmakers, and people controlled by President Zelensky. There is no second-guessing who is responsible for this.
President Zelensky is making a choice to undermine Ukrainian democratic institutions in pursuit of expanding his personal power. Why do it now?. The attacked anti-corruption agencies have been a nuisance for political elite — as they should be. They have investigated Zelensky’s party’s lawmakers & the president’s close associates, just weeks ago, they went after his personal friend, then-Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, making him a suspect in a land grab case. There is talk other close associates of Zelensky that detectives were investigating. In other words, they were doing exactly what they were set up for: independently investigating top-level corruption. It’s worth remembering that Ukraine’s anti-corruption infrastructure was set up in the years following the 2013-2014 EuroMaidan Revolution. It was one of the wins of democratic, pro-Western movement that overthrew the corrupt pro-Russian president. Over 100 protesters were killed before the revolution prevailed.
It took lives of those protesters, & years of work followed, to set up independent anti-corruption infrastructure in Ukraine — a major achievement for the young democracy. Now, President Zelensky is seeking to dismantle it to protect his associates and expand his power. The backdrop of the war is hugely helpful for this matter. Under martial law, there are no elections, and perhaps more importantly, there have been no mass street protests. Many of the most politically active Ukrainians, patriotic & uncompromising, are serving on the front lines or have been killed fighting. (The first anti-govt protests since the start of the war are taking place right now, as we are running this editorial — they are a reaction to today’s vote, & have likely slowed down Zelensky’s signing of the bill.)
