‘Point of no return’ — Ukraine’s democracy under threat as new bill guts anti-corruption efforts
Protesters gathered in response to a bill passed in Ukraine's parliament that strips independence from anti-corruption bodies, in Kyiv, Ukraine on July 22, 2025. (Danylo Antoniuk/The Kyiv Independent)
Ukraine
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect the fact Zelensky signed the bill into law on the evening of July 22, as shown on the Parliament's website.
"Dark times ahead." "Peak of corruption." "Point of no return."
Ukrainian society sounded a code red for the country's democracy on July 22, as the final votes were tallied on a bill in Ukraine's parliament that strips independence from anti-corruption bodies, which was then signed into law by President Volodymyr Zelensky later that day.
Many described the new legislative changes as gutting a decade of hard-fought reforms and reverting to the notorious era of high corruption under former President Viktor Yanukovych that sparked the deadly EuroMaidan protests in 2013-2014.
Since then, major anti-corruption reforms have been implemented as part of the country's efforts to integrate with Europe, including in response to requirements by the International Monetary Fund and the European Union. Some fear that the new bill could jeopardize the country's ties to the west and crucial financial support.
"Everything is now being rolled back," Svitlana Matviienko, executive director of the Ukrainian non-profit Agency for Legislative Initiatives, told the Kyiv Independent shortly after the bill passed.
"These tactics aren’t new in Ukraine’s history. They echo the Prosecutor General’s Office under Yanukovych, when a single official could determine the outcome of any case, and the prosecutorial system served political interests rather than justice."
The new legislation gives the prosecutor general powerful authority over the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO).
NABU is responsible for investigating and building major corruption cases, which are then prosecuted by SAPO. Both bodies were set up in the wake of the EuroMaidan movement with the cooperation of international partners, and are designed to operate beyond the influence of political interference.
"It’s something the EU can’t afford to ignore, and it will impact how Ukraine is perceived, including our prospects for reintegration."
Under the new law, the prosecutor general, who is appointed by the president, has the ability to access and reassign case files, issue binding instructions to investigators, and unilaterally close cases, among other powers.
"This isn’t just a concern — it’s a fundamental shift that strikes at the heart of democracy," Inna Sovsun, a lawmaker from the Holos opposition party, told the Kyiv Independent.
"It’s something the EU can’t afford to ignore, and it will impact how Ukraine is perceived, including our prospects for reintegration."
The bill was passed with the support of 263 lawmakers, with 13 members voting against the bill and 13 abstaining. The bill then headed to Zelensky's desk, where he signed it.
The moves come a day after the European Union and the G7 expressed concerns over Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) carrying out more than 70 searches of locations linked to NABU, moves that were criticized by civil society activists as an attempt to intimidate and dismantle anti-corruption efforts.
The Kyiv Independent reached out to various figures in Ukrainian society to understand how they see this law and what it means for their country's future.
Yaroslav Hrytsak
historian
I may exaggerate, but this decision can amount to a coup-d’etat. Not in terms of change of power, but in terms of how the principles the power should operate. A sound state cherishes independence of its institutions.
This one curtails it. This power is sick — and it reveals its sickness at the most critical moment of the war. It is dangerous, it is depressing, it is suicidal.
Volodymyr Ariev
lawmaker for the European Solidarity opposition party
I see Zelensky and his team don’t give a flying f*ck about Ukraine’s European integration.
This vote is a U-turn to the model of Ruskiy Mir ("Russian World") and a threat to all achievements in pro-EU reforms. Independence of both bodies is the key to our European Union membership and it was just broken.
Petro
senior sergeant with the 38th Marine Brigade deployed in the Pokrovsk sector
If Zelensky signs it, I think we will lose global support as such. The destruction of the controlling body of the corruption component is needed only to steal with impunity. No one will support such a country.
An employee within SAPO
whose name was withheld as they are not authorized to speak publicly
The anti-corruption system after the Revolution of Dignity has not yet encountered such a reversal of reform. Many experts will agree that dark times await us all.
Many of Ukraine's (reform) commitments relate to the fight against corruption. And the reversal of reforms threatens the western path of the state.
But we are optimistically forward-looking. No one is going to back down from the mission. We rely on and are guided only by facts.
The threat is extraordinary, events are happening quickly and are causing concern. We are discussing it. What will happen next — we will see.
Anastasia Radina
chairperson of parliament's anti-corruption committee and a member of Zelensky's Servant of the People party
The threat has already been fulfilled. The building is not just on fire, it's burned to embers already.
It is important to understand that NABU and SAP are not just some abbreviations, they are not just some law enforcement agencies in Ukraine. These are the bodies that were created from scratch as a response to the Revolution of Dignity, in order to entrust the fight against corruption to a new, separate body, untainted by old corruption practices.
It’s a terrible shame.
Yaroslav Yurchyshyn
a member of parliament from the Holos opposition party
This will finally destroy the independence of the anti-corruption infrastructure.
The prosecutor general, 100% the President's man, will decide who and what cases will be investigated, who and how will provide procedural support from the prosecutor's office. Therefore, we should expect the closure of a number of high-profile cases, such as the Chernyshov case.
Sergey Fursa
an expert with Dragon Capital, a leading Ukrainian investment bank
After what happened, we can expect anything. Because indeed the Ukrainian authorities have thus crossed all possible red lines, violating all the obligations undertaken within the framework of cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, with the European Union within the framework of European integration, and even violating the conditions of madness.
Because now, after this, nothing is impossible. And this creates very significant risks for the country.
Yuriy Nikolov
investigative journalist, founder of “Nashi Hroshi/Our Money”
In my eyes, we’ve gone back to the times of Yanukovych, which I always considered the peak of corruption in Ukraine.
NABU hunted for the top officials, for the biggest corruptioneers. Not for the heads of some regional courts or what have you. And the results of their activity became, I think, what we are holding onto today.
(If NABU is rendered ineffective), there will still be anti-corruption activity, but what will remain is anti-corruption activity against low-level people.
Top-corruptioneers will be able to get away with anything, and for everyone else, the law — and moreover, the law in selective application.
Svitlana Matviienko
Executive Director of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives
Everything is now being rolled back.
These tactics aren’t new in Ukraine’s history. They echo the Prosecutor General’s Office under Yanukovych, when a single official could determine the outcome of any case, and the prosecutorial system served political interests rather than justice.
This draft law risks slowing Ukraine’s EU accession talks and jeopardizing critical financial aid. More importantly, it marks a potential point of no return, both for prosecution reform and for the broader structure of the rule of law in Ukraine. Today, the country has lost not just its anti-corruption institutions but also the trust it has painstakingly built since 2014.
This is happening now because July is a difficult month for public administration. People are tired, international partners are on vacation — it’s the perfect time for radical decisions that have been simmering for a while.
Ihor Lachenkov
activist, influencer, blogger
Today the Verkhovna Rada voted for a law that effectively destroys the independence of NABU and SAPO. This is absolutely unacceptable in our time; we are moving toward the EU, and Ukraine has worked on these institutions for years.
But we see that as soon as these institutions started targeting people close to the president, they were immediately attacked.
This threatens to bring about full manual control over cases and the protection of a certain circle of people. There will be selective justice — some media 'scoundrels' will be jailed, but friends (of powerful people) won’t.
Daria Kaleniuk
executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center
It is the demolition of independent anti-corruption institutions, which we've been building for the last 10 years since the Revolution of Dignity. And it's reinstating the prosecutor general’s full control over all the top proceedings of high-level corruption.
Since 2014, we’ve been building instruments and tools to make sure that the prosecutor general is not able to control these proceedings. This is how the specialized corruption prosecution was created. And now the prosecutor general can order NABU and SAPO which cases to investigate, which cases to stop, and what to do in proceedings.
Iryna Friz
a lawmaker from the European Solidarity opposition party
This is a terrible strategic mistake in passing this law… I am one hundred percent convinced that this does not contribute to our European integration.
There is only one way (to prevent the adopted bill from coming into force) — a presidential veto.
But I doubt that he will impose a veto on this bill, considering that all the coordination of what happened today and around this bill in the hall was from the President's Office. Therefore, unfortunately, I do not delude myself with illusions that President Zelensky is capable of adequately assessing the risks from such a step for his directly image career and including historical one.
Kate Tsurkan, Martin Fornusek, Katerina Hodunova, Daria Shulzhenko, Asami Terajima, Kollen Post, and Yana Prots contributed reporting.
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