Money Talks: Ukraine’s Anti-Graft Agencies Suddenly ‘Independent’ Again

When last we saw Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian Parliament – like, um, just this past Tuesday – they were busy doing the Bojangles. A brouhaha had erupted over legislation they’d passed the previous week that the Ukrainian president consequently signed into law. The bill stripped the independence of the two anti-corruption agencies investigating government graft and, instead, folded their operations under the purview of a presidentially appointed director.

What’s not to love?

Speculation was that much of this action had been in response to the investigations, some of which were now resulting in corruption charges, getting too up close and personal with Zelensky’s political intimates. Returning oversight of such to the presidential fold would preclude anymore noses thrust where they weren’t welcome.

The European Union had its regal nose very much out of joint at the news of this move.

Try as he might to defend the legislation, Zelensky’s excuses fell on deaf ears. One huffy justification, that the people had ‘demanded this,’ rang especially hollow, seeing as how ‘the people’ had burst onto the streets of Kyiv by the thousands in massive demonstrations when they learned of it.

…Ukrainians had reacted angrily to amendments pushed through parliament on July 22 by Zelenskyy’s ruling party that gave the president’s hand-picked general prosecutor the power to transfer cases away from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) and reassign prosecutors.

The decision led to some of the biggest protests held in Ukraine since the 2022 Russian invasion began, with thousands taking to the streets of Kyiv. Protesters continued to gather even after Zelenskyy had announced that he would roll back the amendments, and were outside parliament on Thursday as legislators voted, bursting into applause after the bill passed.

The demonstrations were especially telling not because they were some of the biggest since the war began, but because the throngs were so huge in spite of Zelensky’s imposition and repeated extensions of Martial Law. Besides not holding elections, getting together for a big protest is forbidden.

…Zelensky first declared martial law and general mobilization on Feb. 24, 2022, when Russia started its full-scale invasionof Ukraine. The measure has been repeatedly extended since then.

…Due to martial law, Ukraine is also unable to hold parliamentary and presidential elections in accordance with the existing legislation.

The Ukrainian president also seriously underestimated the response of the normally malleable European Union. Accustomed to operating at will, he was taken aback when they unceremoniously cut a good slice of his funding off for not adhering to the terms of the agreement to receive them, part of which was maintaining an ongoing, independent, anti-corruption crusade – emphasis on the ‘independent.’

Oh, now it’s a problem when Trump made them use their own money huh? 🤭

— Ju Pak (@mrssyc) July 27, 2025

As of a few hours ago, it seems all the interested Ukrainian parties have reconsidered and decided that, perhaps, their actions were a bit on the rash side.

It appears there’s been what’s known as a risk assessment followed by a tactical recalculation.

In common lingo, there’s been a do-over. 

Ukraine’s Parliament approves law restoring independence of anti-graft watchdogs following backlash

Ukraine’s Parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a bill presented by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that restores the independence of two of the country’s key anti-corruption watchdogs, reversing his contentious move last week that curbed their power and brought an outcry.

Last week’s measure by Zelenskyy to place the watchdogs under the oversight of the prosecutor-general prompted rebukes from Ukrainians, the European Union and international rights groups. It raised fears that the government could meddle in investigations and potentially shield its supporters from scrutiny.

Fighting entrenched corruption is crucial for Ukraine’s aspirations to join the EU and maintain access to billions of dollars of vital Western aid in the nearly 3½-year all-out war. It’s also an effort that enjoys broad public support.

The EU was immediately making many soothing noises because they really didn’t want to play the heavy to begin with. They hate doing that, preferring the United States be the world’s green meanie.

…EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, who called last week’s legislative changes “a serious step back,” welcomed approval of the bill, saying lawmakers had “corrected last week’s damaging vote.”

So I would anticipate Zelensky’s missing billion and change is tacked back onto his check.

But, this being Ukraine, it isn’t all quite that cut and dried, you see, where corruption comes in.

There’s a good possibility that Zelensky could give way gracefully and look like a reasonable man, because Zelensky had already gotten the information he needed from the independent agencies and their personnel before he returned his brief control of them.

Since mid-July, Ukrainian police and state security services have been conducting warrantless raids on the offices and homes of both anti-corruption investigators and the agencies’ offices themselves.

Looking for ‘Russians,’ you see. And investigating traffic violations.

Ukraine risks backsliding on its endemic corruption problem — and even creeping toward authoritarianism — activists warn, following police raids against a high-profile anti-corruption campaigner and opposition figures.

On July 11, armed police raided the home of Vitaliy Shabunin, the co-founder of Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Action Center. He has accused President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of “taking the first, but confident steps toward corrupt authoritarianism,” including backing laws offering amnesty to those accused of corruption in the defense industry, and passing over an independently selected candidate for a key anti-graft role.

The move has perturbed even some of Zelenskyy’s supporters — people who are simultaneously worried about the heavy-handed and potentially spurious crackdown on dissent, and that such criticisms against the Ukrainian leader might be used in bad faith by opponents in Moscow or Washington.

“This is the red line which President Zelensky has crossed — and the red line is in a very wrong direction in terms of the development of Ukraine,” said Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, the Kyiv-based watchdog that Shabunin co-founded. She said the State Bureau of Investigations did not have the necessary court documents for the search.

Blatant intimidation, scooping up evidence, and RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA.

Sweeping raids at Ukraine’s independent, anti-corruption agency sparked concern among Kyiv’s allies over the government’s dedication to longstanding efforts to strengthen the rule of law.

An unnamed employee of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, known as NABU, was detained in Kyiv under suspicion of spying for Russia, the Prosecutor General’s Office said Monday in a statement. He is accused of sending data on the identities of Ukrainian law enforcement officers to Russia’s intelligence services, it said.

The head of a local office of the NABU in the eastern city of Dnipro was also detained as part of the sweep, according to law enforcement. At least 15 of NABU’s detectives were also targeted in searches, some of which were allegedly linked to road traffic accidents and unrelated to Russia, according to the bureau.

The searches were carried out without court orders, it said.

‘Road traffic accidents.’ Okay.

What a snek pit.

…The ambassadors from the Group of Seven nations have “serious concerns” about developments at NABU and intend to discuss them with Ukraine’s government leaders, according to a statement on the G-7’s X account on Monday.

The wave of detentions is likely to raise questions over Ukraine’s commitment to root out corruption at the time when President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is looking to convince Western allies to maintain their military support three-and-half years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country.

The recent, coordinated actions by law enforcement “point to an attempt by the authorities to undermine the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions,” Transparency International Ukraine said in a statement on its website. “These actions appear aimed at forcibly extracting information and influencing investigations into top-level officials.”

The group said the alleged offenses attributed to the detectives are “so broad and inconsistent that they indicate an ulterior motive behind the operation” and called on Zelenskiy to publicly guarantee the independence of anti-corruption institutions.

Imagine that – ‘forcibly extracting information and influencing investigations.’ 

And now President Zelensky, after a month of these raids, can act the magnanimous, reasonable fellow, handing back control.

NUTHIN’ UP MUH SLEEVE!

And a mewling EU releases the euros, and everything is right as rain.

Right?

Right.

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