As Ukraine's government reverses course on anti-corruption crackdown, here’s what to expect next
Activists with banners protest the law restricting the independence of anti-corruption bureaus during a rally on July 24, 2025 in Kharkiv, Ukraine (Viktoriia Yakymenko/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC "UA:PBC"/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine
After massive nationwide protests and fierce international criticism, President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed a new bill to restore the independence of Ukraine's anti-corruption authorities.
The new bill, submitted July 24, has yet to be passed but would reverse the decisions that sparked the nation’s biggest political crisis since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
The protests began after Ukraine's parliament voted on July 22 to give the prosecutor general new powers over two independent anti-corruption agencies in Ukraine.
Among other changes, it gave the prosecutor general — a political appointee — the ability to access and reassign cases, issue binding instructions to investigators, and unilaterally close cases.
The contentious law was justified by its defenders as necessary to rid the agencies of Russian influence, although none of the law's provisions directly addressed the issue.
Activists, politicians, and international organizations criticized the move as an attempt to consolidate power and shut down anti-corruption efforts, with some calling it a "point of no return."
With Zelensky's new bill now awaiting a vote, here’s what to expect and what to look for next.
Will this quell the protests?
Thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets in major cities across the country immediately after the initial law passed, urging Zelensky to veto the bill when it arrived on his desk. The protests grew the following day, after he signed the bill, and people were still taking to the streets the day after.
It is not yet clear when the protests will fully die down, but there are already signs that Zelensky's about-face has calmed most of the tensions.
After Zelensky released his proposal to overturn the contentious decision, Kyiv Independent reporters present at the protests that same evening — the third night of demonstrations — reported that the gathering crowd was notably smaller than the previous two nights, though still sizable.
Ihor Lachenkov, an activist and influencer who played a key role in spreading the word about the protests, wrote on Telegram the following morning that the next protest would wait until the parliamentary vote.
"The next action should be on the day of the vote, we are waiting for the exact date and will decide on the spot," he said to his more than a million and a half followers.
He explained the decision to pause protests in the meantime was to keep the focus on the "clear goal" of these protests, and avoid turning them into a "festival" that could be used for propaganda purposes by any malicious actors.
Zelensky's latest proposal also appears to have satisfied concerns of the two agencies at the heart of the matter, who released a joint statement after the text of the new bill was released urging members of parliament to adopt it.
When will the bill be voted on, and will it pass?
Parliamentary Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk has announced the new bill will be considered in parliament on July 31.
Leaders of Zelensky's party have not yet said whether they have gathered enough guaranteed votes to successfully pass it. The legislation would reverse a bill that passed only days earlier by an overwhelming majority: 263 votes in favor, 13 against, and 13 abstaining.
However, Zelensky is under considerable pressure to ensure the bill's success, and his party holds more than half the seats in parliament — a large enough majority to enact the legislation without partnering with coalition members.
Additionally, several opposition figures have expressed their support for the new legislation, and it is expected to be backed by opponents of the original bill.
Stefanchuk announced that he would urge parliament to adopt the bill "immediately and in its entirety," which would avoid having the bill move to a second reading, where amendments could be introduced. Anti-corruption advocates have raised concerns that amendments could be used to water down the bill.
If the bill is adopted on its first reading, it could be signed into law by Zelensky as quickly as the same day of the vote.
Anti-corruption advocates have warned of the possibility that the prosecutor general could interfere in ongoing cases in the week before the new bill is voted on, although there is no indication that this has happened yet.
What exactly does the new bill do?
Zelensky's new legislative initiative would restore independence to anti-corruption agencies, effectively repealing the controversial law.
One key addition, however, has been added to address the issue of alleged Russian influence. Unlike before, employees of law enforcement agencies with access to classified information will now be required to undergo polygraph tests at least every two years.
The two main institutions targeted by the law that sparked the protests are the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), which fight high-level corruption.
These two agencies work as a team: NABU investigates cases under SAPO's supervision, and then SAPO handles the prosecution in court.
While these agencies were designed to be independent and free from political influence, the law passed earlier this week gave the prosecutor general sweeping control over them, including the ability for the prosecutor general to access all case files, issue binding orders to investigators, and pull cases from NABU to hand them off to other agencies under the guise of "more effective investigation."
Most controversially, the original law allowed the prosecutor general to unilaterally shut down criminal cases, sparking fears this would be used to protect top officials implicated in corruption.
Zelensky's new bill entirely scraps the prosecutor general's new powers. Both NABU and SAPO were involved in drafting the new law, and said that the draft law "restores all procedural powers and guarantees of independence."
Importantly, diplomats at home and abroad had warned Ukraine that the earlier law could violate conditions for Ukraine's future accession to the European Union, as well as jeopardize foreign aid necessary to keep the country afloat.
If the new law passes, it will unwind the key changes that many claimed ran afoul of Ukraine's international obligations.
One recent change will remain, related to simplifying the process to appoint prosecutors to the prosecutor's office under martial law.
Before Zelensky's announcements, lawmakers who opposed the changes had put forth a competing bill that would also have reversed the recent changes, but does not include the new polygraph tests.
Most likely, this law will become irrelevant as attention shifts to the law proposed by Zelensky. His law has a higher chance of being supported by his party, which holds a majority in parliament.
