Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday passed legislation that significantly curtails the independence of its two main anti-corruption agencies, drawing swift backlash from citizens and officials who say the move threatens years of progress in battling graft.
The new amendments grant sweeping powers to the Prosecutor General — a position nominated by President Volodymyr Zelensky — including the authority to take over investigations from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), override the jurisdiction of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), reassign cases, issue binding instructions, and halt investigations at the request of defense attorneys.
NABU and SAPO issued a joint statement warning that the law “destroys the anti-corruption infrastructure built since 2015” and effectively reduces NABU to a subdivision of the Prosecutor General’s Office. The agencies said the changes allow unregulated access to case files, permit unilateral signing of charges against high-ranking officials, and strip SAPO’s leadership of real power.
The vote follows an escalating campaign against Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies.
Just a day earlier, on July 21, agents from the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), and the State Investigation Bureau raided NABU and SAPO offices, carrying out more than 70 searches. NABU said the raids were conducted without warrants or warning, while SAPO claimed the SBU accessed sensitive operational data without authorization.
On the same day, a senior NABU detective, Ruslan Magamedrasulov, was arrested for allegedly spying for Russia and coordinating a drug trafficking scheme involving industrial hemp shipments to Dagestan. Another NABU staff member is also under investigation for suspected ties to pro-Russian networks and narcotics trafficking.
Despite the mounting pressure, NABU and SAPO reported progress in unrelated high-profile cases. One day after the raids, the agencies announced they had completed an investigation into a senior SBU officer and two associates accused of soliciting a $300,000 bribe to destroy evidence in a criminal case involving illegal border crossings by draft-age men. The suspects were allegedly caught accepting $72,000 in cash.
Critics say the timing of the raids and the new legal amendments is no coincidence.
“As expected, yesterday’s raids involving physical force and the targeting of NABU staff served as a backdrop for a full-scale assault on NABU and SAPO,” said Anastasia Radina, chair of the Verkhovna Rada’s Anti-Corruption Committee.
But they also cause disappointment among citizens.
"I didn’t fight in this war to go back many years to a time when we were powerless against corruption,” Masi Nayyem, a 40-years-old former soldier who lost an eye in one of the battles, wrote on his Facebook page.