President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions must be free of Russian influence, following the signing of a controversial law that puts the country’s top anti-corruption agencies under the control of the Prosecutor General.
“The anti-corruption infrastructure will work, but without Russian influence – everything needs to be cleaned up. And there should be more justice,” Zelensky said in a video address released overnight.
The remarks came just hours after Zelensky signed Law No. 12414, passed by parliament on July 22, which strips the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) of their independent status.
Under the new law, the Prosecutor General can now access all NABU case files, instruct detectives, and even close investigations in certain cases.
The bill sped through its second reading in the Verkhovna Rada, proposed as amendments to seemingly unrelated laws in an apparent effort to avoid scrutiny.
The late-night signature came after thousands of demonstrators gathered for hours outside the presidential complex in Kyiv and other cities – including Lviv, Odesa and Dnipro – to protest the new law that many fear is a major blow to the country’s push to eliminate graft in government institutions.
Zelensky confirmed he had met with the heads of NABU and SAPO on the matter but did not directly comment on the law or the protests that followed its adoption.
Both NABU and SAPO leaders had urged the president not to sign the legislation. International partners also voiced concerns. The European Union and G7 nations expressed concern that the move could undermine Ukraine’s anti-corruption fight and stall its EU accession efforts.
In his address, Zelensky emphasized the need to investigate longstanding corruption cases and ensure accountability for officials who fled Ukraine and are now “living peacefully abroad... without legal consequences.”
“There is no explanation why Russians can still get the information they need,” he said. “It is important that there are no Russians. It is important that there is an inevitability of punishment and that society really sees this.”
On Monday, one day before the speedy adoption of the controversial law, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and the Prosecutor General’s Office launched a joint operation to root out alleged Russian influence within NABU. Investigators searched the agency’s offices in what officials described as a “security measure.”
In a public statement, NABU said that at least 70 searches were conducted, targeting 15 of its employees.
The SBU on Tuesday arrested multiple NABU officials accused of Russian ties.
Critics say the timing and scope of the new law threaten to reverse years of progress made in building independent, Western-aligned anti-corruption bodies — a key condition for continued international support.
Thousands rally in Kyiv despite ban on protests
On Tuesday night, Kyiv Post reporters on the ground observed around 2,000 to 3,000 people – mostly young – rallying near the Ivan Franko Theater in central Kyiv, close to the presidential complex.
The protest took place despite martial law, in effect since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, which officially bans public demonstrations.
The large demonstration – the first of its kind in wartime Kyiv – has stirred up memories of other times in Ukraine’s past when protesters changed the course of the country’s future.
“They are insisting that they do not want to return to the times of [former President Viktor] Yanukovych,” Kyiv Post reporter Sergii Kostezh said. “They do not want to return to the times of pro-Russian governance in Ukraine.”
But Zelensky reportedly signed the bill into law shortly after it was passed by lawmakers in the afternoon, opposition lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak wrote in his Telegram channel.
“They don’t care about protests,” he wrote.