After signing a bill that effectively strips Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies of their independence, President Volodymyr Zelensky has now promised to propose a new law to strengthen them again. The controversial legislation, which was pushed through the Verkhovna Rada on July 22, subordinates the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) to the Prosecutor General’s Office — disregarding the fact that their independence has been a key condition of Ukraine’s E.U. integration. Ukrainians in cities across the country took to the streets in defense of these institutions on July 22, resulting in the largest protests the country has seen since Russia’s 2022 invasion. Meduza explains what you need to know about the bill, the backlash, and what Zelensky plans to do next.

What are NABU and SAPO?

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) was established in 2015 to investigate corruption within the Ukrainian government. The organization has the power to investigate judges, prosecutors, members of parliament, the prime minister, and even the president — provided their term has ended.

The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) was also created in 2015. Although part of the Prosecutor General’s Office, SAPO functions as an independent division that provides procedural oversight and supports NABU investigations.

NABU and SAPO are considered the two key institutions at the heart of Ukraine’s anti-corruption system. Their creation was one of the European Union’s and International Monetary Fund’s core conditions for the structural reforms Ukraine needed to carry out as part of its path toward E.U. membership. The agencies were also conditions for securing visa-free travel to the E.U. and receiving macro-financial aid.

Until now, NABU and SAPO have operated independently of Ukraine’s other law enforcement and government structures, according to Forbes Ukraine.

How did the crackdown start?

On the morning of July 21, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and the Prosecutor General’s Office announced that they were carrying out an operation to “neutralize Russian influence” within NABU. By the next morning, law enforcement had conducted 80 searches targeting 19 NABU employees.

Several individuals were detained, including Ruslan Magamedrasulov, a senior official in NABU’s interregional detective unit. The SBU accused Magamedrasulov of being “in contact” with Russian representatives and allegedly helping his father, a businessman, conduct illegal trade with Russia.

Searches were also carried out at SAPO offices. In a public statement, the agency said the SBU was inspecting compliance with laws governing state secrets. “As part of the inspection, SBU officers gained access to information on all covert and operational activities, as well as special operations conducted by NABU and SAPO,” the statement said. “The inspection was launched while the leadership of NABU and SAPO was away on official foreign travel. These actions could result in the disclosure of sensitive information related to numerous ongoing criminal investigations being handled by NABU and SAPO.”

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Then, on the morning of July 22, the Verkhovna Rada’s Committee on Law Enforcement convened an emergency meeting to consider amendments to Bill No. 12414 — a draft law that originally concerned updates to the Criminal Procedure Code related to missing persons during martial law.

The bill had already passed its first reading and was being prepared for a second. But lawmakers used it as a vehicle to insert amendments affecting NABU and SAPO — revisions that effectively stripped both agencies of their independence. The committee approved the changes.

How did the bill get through parliament?

Later that same day, lawmakers from President Zelensky’s Servant of the People party added the revised bill to the Rada’s agenda. Before the vote, members of the opposition parties European Solidarity and Holos moved to have the bill removed from consideration, but only 53 deputies backed the motion. A few lawmakers also made an unsuccessful attempt to block the podium before the vote. (In the words of deputy Yaroslav Zhelezniak, it was “the only option, at least in theory, to try to stop” the legislation.)

In the end, the Rada passed the bill, with 263 lawmakers voting in favor (including 185 from the president’s own party, which holds a majority). That evening, Zelensky signed it into law.

Ahead of the vote in parliament, NABU released a statement warning that if the proposed amendments were adopted, the head of SAPO would become a “figurehead,” while NABU would lose its independence and effectively be turned into a subdivision of the Prosecutor General’s Office. “The anti-corruption infrastructure Ukraine has built since 2015 will be dismantled,” the statement said.

Under the amendments that were ultimately approved, the Prosecutor General is granted sweeping new powers, including the ability to:

• Reassign the authority of SAPO prosecutors to other prosecutors;
• Gain full access to all NABU case files, request materials from any case, and reassign them at will;
• Issue written directives to NABU that must be followed;
• Close investigations at the request of the defense;
• Transfer NABU-led criminal investigations to other pre-trial investigative bodies.

How did Ukrainians and international partners react to the new legislation?

Even before the vote in the Verkhovna Rada, both the European Union and the G7 expressed concern about the new legislation.

European Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier said the anti-corruption institutions are “crucial to Ukraine’s reform agenda and must operate in an independent way to fight corruption and maintain public trust.” He noted that the E.U. provides substantial financial assistance to Ukraine “conditional on progress in transparency, judicial reform, and democratic governance.” Mercier added, “Ukraine’s E.U. accession will require a strong capacity to combat corruption and to ensure institutional resilience. The E.U. will continue to monitor the situation and support Ukraine in upholding the rule of law.”

Ambassadors from G7 countries also issued a statement, saying they were closely watching the investigation into NABU personnel. “We met today with NABU, have serious concerns, and intend to discuss these developments with government leaders,” the group wrote.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people took to the streets in Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv, and Dnipro in protest of the legislation stripping NABU and SAPO of their independence. In Ukraine’s capital, protesters gathered near the Ivan Franko Drama Theater after a call to action from war veteran Dmytro Koziatynskyi. According to estimates by the media outlets Ukrainska Pravda and Hromadske, several hundred people took part in the demonstration; the news agency UNIAN reported as many as 1,000 participants.

Protesters chanted slogans such as “Hands off NABU!,” “Shame!,” and “Defend democratic institutions!” — including some directly criticizing the Zelensky administration.

“What’s happening is the demolition of the anticorruption infrastructure in Ukraine,” Daria Kaleniuk, co-founder of the Kyiv-based Anti-Corruption Action Center, told The Wall Street Journal. Kaleniuk helped establish NABU following the 2013–2014 Maidan Revolution. In her view, the Ukrainian government was likely emboldened to weaken the agency as in recent months, the United States seems to have stopped paying close attention to anti-corruption reforms.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who has been at odds with President Zelensky for years, also criticized the new law. He said the legislation doesn’t bring Ukraine “any closer” to the European Union, democracy, or the rule of law — or to “the values that Ukrainian soldiers are dying for today.”

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Among those supporting the law was former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the Batkivshchyna party. She argued that Ukraine must “step by step repeal every law that brought in international advisory councils and international monitoring councils, because they strip Ukraine of its sovereignty.”

Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, also weighed in. Ukraine’s history, he said, shows that “a nation loses when it is torn apart by internal divisions.” He continued: “We face a single common threat, a single enemy. That’s why internal disagreements should be resolved through open dialogue to achieve one shared goal: defending our country. I’m confident that strong troops and strong institutions will save Ukraine. We must show wisdom and responsibility.”

In a separate statement, the intelligence agency warned that Russian security services and propagandists could exploit the protests to “undermine the country’s stability.”

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned that attacks on Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions could hurt both defense investment and efforts to fund the country’s postwar recovery. Julia Fromholz, head of the OECD’s anti-corruption division, expressed “deep concern,” warning that the legislation “significantly undermines the independence of Ukraine’s specialized anti-corruption institutions.”

E.U. Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos also criticized the new law. “Seriously concerned over today’s vote in the Rada,” she wrote on X. “The dismantling of key safeguards protecting NABU’s independence is a serious step back. Independent bodies like NABU & SAPO, are essential for [Ukraine’s] E.U. path. Rule of Law remains in the very center of E.U. accession negotiations.”

Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called the bill’s passage “a bad day for Ukraine,” adding that “it’s not about NABU or SAPO.”

It’s about people wanting to live in a just country. When something is pushed through in 24 hours and everyone is expected to just accept it, that’s not justice. I understand that for many in government, the Revolution of Dignity has become nothing more than an annual social media post. But for millions of people, it was a sacrifice for the sake of justice. And that can’t be erased by a vote or a quick signature. Now the president faces a choice: to stand with the people or not. And again, this isn’t about NABU or SAPO. This is about the people.

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How did Zelensky respond to the backlash?

In the early hours of July 23, after signing the controversial bill into law, President Zelensky finally gave a statement. “The anti-corruption infrastructure will continue to work — just without Russian influence. That all has to be purged. And there must be more justice,” he said in a video address.

Zelensky said that he had spoken with NABU Director Semen Kryvonos, SAPO Head Oleksandr Klymenko, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, and SBU Head Vasyl Malyuk. “Of course, NABU and SAPO will [keep] working,” he underscored. “And it’s important that the prosecutor general is determined to actually ensure that in Ukraine, punishment is inevitable for those who go against the law. This is what Ukraine really needs. Cases that have been lying dormant must be investigated.”

Zelensky later released another statement saying that he’d met with the heads of Ukraine’s top law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies, and they were willing to “work as a team.” He then promised that these bodies would present a “joint action plan” within two weeks.

We all hear what society is saying. We see what people expect from state institutions for ensuring justice and the effective functioning of each one. We discussed the necessary administrative and legislative decisions that would strengthen the work of each institution, resolve existing contradictions, and eliminate threats. Everyone will work together, and we will support them at the political level.

According to Zelensky, the joint action plan will outline “what steps are needed and will be implemented to strengthen Ukraine and eliminate existing issues, provide more justice, and really protect the interests of Ukrainian society.”

Zelensky announced plans to reverse course a few hours later. In his nightly video address, the president promised to submit a bill to the parliament that would guarantee the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies. “I will propose a bill to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine that will be a response, one that will strengthen the law enforcement system,” he said. “There will be no Russian influence or interference in the activities of law enforcement agencies, and — very importantly — there will be all the norms for [ensuring] the independence of anti-corruption institutions.”

At the time of this writing, protests against the law targeting anti-corruption institutions are ongoing in Kyiv, Odesa, and other Ukrainian cities for the second straight day.