Ukrainians are staging nationwide protests in response to a new bill that would gut the independence of two key anti-corruption agencies. The legislation grants expanded powers to the general prosecutor, an appointee of the president, over both the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now facing the largest public backlash since the start of the 2022 war with Russia. Demonstrations erupted outside his Kyiv office and in cities across the country just one day after Ukraine’s domestic security agency arrested two NABU officials for alleged ties to Russia.
NABU and SAPO warned in a joint statement that the bill would effectively strip them of independence, turning NABU into a branch of the prosecutor general’s office.
European officials also raised red flags. EU Commissioner Marta Kos called the measure a “serious step back” for Ukraine’s reform efforts. The legislation threatens not only Ukraine’s path to EU membership—where anti-corruption progress is a key requirement—but could also strain Zelenskyy’s relationship with President Trump, who has criticized him as a “dictator without elections.”
