It is the first large-scale protest in Ukraine as thousands of its citizens take to the streets against a risky anti-corruption law which was signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky, as reported by the Center of Eastern Studies. Law No. 12414, the Ukrainian anti-corruption law, has drawn a lot of criticism from civil society groups, opposition politicians, and the international community, who allege that the law jeopardises the effort to fight corruption in the country.
On July 22, President Volodymyr Zelensky ratified the law in spite of mass demonstrations against the law that have been described by critics as regressive to many years of pro-democracy-driven reforms. The bill was adopted in parliament with 263 votes in support and just 13 in opposition, and rendered the two key law enforcement agencies combating corruption in Ukraine the instruments of the government.
Ukraine Anti-Corruption Law Changes How NABU and SAP Operate
The new law on fighting corruption in Ukraine turns the work of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) entirely around. Within the laws, the Prosecutor General has access to all the NABU cases as never before, and can issue binding directions to the investigators. This is a huge change when compared to the way they were before and lived in solitude.
The appearance of such a law in Ukraine has caused some eyebrows to be raised, given that the efforts on the part of the Security Service of Ukraine to conduct controversial searches of NABU and SAP offices happened at roughly the same time. Instead, they did these searches under no appropriate warrants, purportedly to look into Russian infiltration in the agencies. According to critics, this was just a mere excuse to support the enactment of such a law.
Semen Kryvonos, the head of NABU, openly protested against the law on fighting corruption in Ukraine and urged President Zelensky to decline to sign the legislation. He cautioned that the parliament succeeded in turning off the anti-corruption system set in place in Ukraine years ago and supported by the international community.
Anti-Corruption Law Ukraine: International Concerns and Domestic Opposition
The international partners, such as the European Union and G7 states, have criticized the anti-corruption law introduced in Ukraine. To appease the protesters, Zelenskyy on 23 July 2025 said he would present to parliament a new draft law to retrieve the independence of NABU and SAPO, and presented the bill on the following day.
The anti-corruption law in Ukraine is now being challenged by the opposition parties, who are gathering signatures to approach the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. The Holos and the European Solidarity MPs have started working on the draft legislation to change the consequences of the law. The demonstrations turned out to be the first major domestic challenge to the leadership of Zelensky since the war.
