Nations torn by infighting will lose, Ukraine's military intelligence chief warns amid controversial law
Nations torn by infighting will lose, Military Intelligence Chief Kyrylo Budanov said on July 23, amid a new law that threatens the independence of Ukraine's anti-corruption institutions.
"Ukrainian history has taught us — a nation loses if it is torn apart by internal contradictions," Budanov said in a post to Telegram.
On July 22, the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) approved amendments that grant the prosecutor general new powers over cases led by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) and investigations led by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
President Volodymyr Zelensky later that day signed the bill into law, effectively destroying the independence of Ukraine's two key anti-corruption institutions, opposition lawmakers and watchdogs say.
"We have one common trouble, one enemy. Therefore, internal contradictions should be resolved through open dialogue to achieve a single common goal — to defend our country. I am confident that Ukraine will be saved by strong military and institutions," Budanov said.
The new law allows the prosecutor general to issue binding instructions to NABU, reassign cases outside the agency, and delegate SAPO's authority to other prosecutors. Critics say the changes dismantle safeguards that protect both bodies from political interference.
Among other new powers, the prosecutor general could also close NABU's investigations at the legal defense's request.
Protestors gathered in major cities across the country, including Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and Odesa, to demand that Zelensky veto the controversial law.
"Take cardboard from boxes and make posters where you write everything you think about the recent onslaught," war veteran Dmytro Koziatynskyi wrote in a Facebook post that helped mobilize the protests.
