Ukraine: Zelenskyy's anti-graft cuts stoke protests

Kyiv: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved a law to strip Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies of their powers, triggering the first outbreak of popular protest against his leadership since Russia's full-scale invasion began.

The Ukrainian leader defended the controversial decision in a nightly address Wednesday, saying that anti-corruption investigations must be cleared of "Russian influence" - and saying many cases had been left untouched, including those against former officials who'd fled the country. He said he spoke to the heads of the anti-graft agencies and his chief prosecutor. "Anti-corruption infrastructure will work," Zelenskyy said, without addressing the protests. "Only without Russian influence, it needs to be cleared of that. And there should be more justice."

But the decision prompted pushback from allies and a public rebuke. Hundreds of people joined rallies in Kyiv, the western city of Lviv, and the southern port city of Odesa on Tuesday evening in protest against legislation that placed the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine under the control of the Prosecutor General's Office, whose head is appointed by the president.


Zelenskyy's signature defied concerns raised by the opposition and allies from the Group of Seven nations that such a move would hamstring efforts to tackle high-level graft. NABU and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office were both established at the request of Western donors a decade ago.

The protests erupted even as the capital has suffered almost daily barrages of deadly drone and missile strikes, underscoring the growing sense of public anger over Zelenskyy's attempts to concentrate power within a narrow circle of his close associates.